Hate How Our Love Is Too Far Apart
by Stormyx
Summary: Princess Miku is soon to marry Len Kagamine, the son of an aristocrat. However, this wedding has to be delayed when an enemy kidnaps Miku and wants to take over her country, and possibly the world. But what do they really want with Miku? And what will Len face when he's teamed up with the most unlikely set of people set out to find her? Contains violence and minor language. Enjoy!
1. Chapter 1: Missing You

Miku sighed for the third time that day. Being a princess was tough for her, not counting how she'd angst over her past. It was just another boring day for her.

She was the princess of Cryptonia, a country which excelled in gunmanship and military. It was also well-known for its music and culture, as well as its advanced technology. The country wasn't as big as some of the other countries Miku knew; it was fairly small in comparison to those countries. Or as her godfather Kaito had told her, it was over 100,000 apples long whereas the larger countries were over 500,000 apples long.

Miku had decided that she'd go to her balcony rather than mope around in the courtyard, on that day.

_Maybe I could read a book, as well, or maybe I could sing_, thought Miku to herself, in which she formed a small smile at the idea.

As she started to walk to her room, another idea popped into her head.

_And whilst I'm at it, perhaps I'll remove these dirty rags. _

This would also mean that she'd have to call on the help of her servants. Unfortunately for Miku, her servants were busy in the kitchen, preparing the supper. However, Miku did not know this.

As she entered her room, Miku let out another sigh as she fell onto her bed. It was quite boring on Sundays, since she felt that Sundays were bland. She also noticed that her servants weren't around, which surprised her.

"I guess I'll just have to get myself sorted myself, won't I?" Miku said aloud to herself. However, she had contradicted herself there and then, as her servants had started to file in, in a hurried manner.

"We are sorry, princess! We just had to do work in the kitchen; we'll help you out with anything right this minute!" a curly red-haired servant named Teto apologised, on behalf of her other servants.

Miku let out a small laugh, "Its fine, Teto, I understand that you're all busy. Now, I'd like to get changed out of these dirty clothes, if you wouldn't mind."

"Yes, yes princess! We'll sort you out right away!" The slave-girl responded. Orders were made to find many items, to get certain equipment and such.

Miku felt her hair tumble from her bonnet she had been wearing, as well as her dress being loosened.

"How do you like this red dress?" another servant asked. The dress was a crimson red one, with a red lace cardigan to match. It was a floor length dress with beads embodied around the hips, which made it look elegant as well as fitting.

"And to go with it, here's a hat!" A purple-haired servant stated. Miku tilted her head slightly to see the hat.

The hat was a straw-like hat, with a piece of red ribbon wrapped around it, which was the same shade as her dress. Miku nodded in approval at this.

"It's beautiful, Defoko." Miku commented.

The servants helped her in to her dress, and adjusted it so it'd fit her, and they also picked out undergarments for her to wear, in which they had put on before the dress. They then proceeded onto her hair, which would be harder since Miku's hair was quite long.

"And your hair is still as turquoise and long as ever! A lot of people are quite jealous of your hair!" a servant called Luna remarked. Miku blushed at the observation, but she was grateful for it. Even though she was complimented many times, she loved each one.

The servants had arranged her into curls which looked rather stunning on her. The curls weren't as strong as Teto's, they were sort of wavy, in a way.

Defoko placed the hat on Miku, and Miku stood up to observe herself in the large mirror before her.

"Wow, I look wonderful!" Miku cried in joy, and in shock. She would turn every so often to observe other parts of her clothed figure.

She let the servants know that she approved, and told them to leave, in which they followed. As soon as the last servant left, she let out yet another sigh.

"I know I look wonderful, but I'd only really believe it if Len told me that." She murmured, so quietly that she could barely hear herself.

Miku walked over to her balcony and rested her body against the cold metal. She felt so lonely there and then, that she'd loved to have some company. And not just from anybody.

She closed her eyes, and the first thought that came to mind was Len. She hadn't seen him for a few days, due to reasons she didn't know- but she would pester him for -, and she felt empty inside. She had been dying to see him, but he hadn't been around. And as one can guess, he was her lover.

Len was a charming young man, two years younger than Miku. He was from a family of aristocrats who knew Miku (and her parents, before they passed away) very well. He had an identical twin sister named Rin, who was Miku's lady-in-waiting. The pair of them had luminous blond hair, which reached just past their necks (well save for Len, who tied his hair up in a ponytail often), and while Len's fringe covered his entire forehead, Rin usually wore clips to keep her hair out of her face. Both had rich, azure blue eyes, though Rin's were larger than Len's, which made her look quite cute. Both had creamy-white skin which never seemed to see any sunlight. Rin was shorter than Len by a few inches or so, and thus she weighed less. Both weren't overweight and were quite active, especially Len since he did a lot of military training.

But that didn't matter to Miku right now; right now she needed him more than _anything._

She said his name over and over to herself; she just wanted him there so badly. She could see him in her mind, like he was really there, but each time she tried to touch him he'd disappear.

She could even feel his warmth against her skin and hear his voice, which is what made it even more terrible for Miku. She felt like crying, but no tears formed. She give anything to see him again. Anything for _him_.

"Miku~!" a familiar voice called out. This snapped Miku out of her trance.

Miku shook her head, "Sorry, Meiko! I'm coming!"

Miku literally ran to where Meiko was. She had no idea what Meiko wanted, but she hoped it would be good.

Unfortunately for Miku, her biological parents had died in a fire when Miku was young. She was the new heir to the throne, but since she was a young child who probably wouldn't know anything about ruling countries, Kaito and Meiko had done this on her behalf until she was old enough to understand about ruling and of course, the death of her parents.

It had struck Miku hard, and for days she had cried about it. Luckily, her ladies and Len were there for her. She had soon come to terms with it many months after, and treated Kaito and Meiko like her real parents, though they were actually her godparents. They even allowed her to call them by their real names which pleased Miku a lot.

She soon slowed down at the last few steps of the staircase, where Meiko was waiting.

"Miku, you look wonderful." she metioned, with a smile. Miku nodded as a way to say thanks.

Meiko continued without warning, "However, I'm sure you've noticed Len's absence."

Miku stopped smiling, and averted her gaze, showing distress. The name struck her harder than steel.

Meiko brought Miku to her and embraced her, knowing Miku's distress. It was fair to say Meiko felt sorry for her, as did Kaito.

"Don't cry, sweetheart, I can assure you that you don't need to cry. He's actually coming home tonight and I was going to ask you something." Meiko sighed, hugging the aquamarine girl.

Miku instantly pulled away from Meiko and had a massive grin on her face. Meiko hadn't seen her this happy in days.

"He really is? I've missed him so badly!" exclaimed Miku, excitedly.

"Yes." answered Meiko, "He's with Kaito at the moment, but we want you to see him later."

Miku's happiness turned into shock, "But why?"

"Because we're hosting a party for him Miku, and I think him seeing you then is best." Meiko advised.

"Oh… Then I guess I'll have to wait." groaned Miku, unhappily.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the gardens, Len was sitting opposite Kaito, who were conversing over the military, training, and of course- Miku.

"Len, are you going to propose to Miku any time soon?" Kaito inquired. Len seemed taken aback by this, for he had never thought of marriage and proposals before.

Marrying Miku… It seemed more than a dream. It was a possible reality, if _he _made the choice. And why wouldn't he? He loved Miku very much and making her his wife would make him a whole lot happier. He pondered over this, so long that Kaito had to question him.

"Len? Are you alright?" questioned Kaito, confused yet a little worried. Len turned his head towards Kaito, as he'd been thinking in another direction.

Len shook his head a little, "Kaito, I'm fine, I was just thinking about it, that's all."

"I'd highly recommend it; after all, you love the girl to pieces." Kaito suggested.

Len thought a little more. What if Miku loved other men, that weren't he? What if she was giving off the wrong signs?

_But if I don't do it now, I'll lose to the other guys!_, thought Len.

After a few more minutes of thinking, Len finally spoke.

"Maybe I should. When were you planning on doing so, Kaito?" Len quizzed.

Kaito chuckled at Len, "It's not my engagement, Len. But if you were asking when I'd suggest to do so, I'd say tonight."

Len widened his eyes in shock, "So soon?"

"Yes. We're planning something for you, in whom you'll be able to see Miku again, so it seems like a good time, don't you think?" Kaito expressed.

"Yes, I suppose it does. I guess I'll agree." Len gave in, not exactly reluctantly. To marry Miku, the girl of his dreams, was all he wanted.

"Good, good. Meiko and I will get a ring, and if Miku agrees, we'll plan the wedding right away." Kaito stated, before getting up and leaving, leaving Len alone in the gardens.

_Just you wait Miku_, the blond aristocrat thought, _I'll make you mine and you'll be so delighted!_


	2. Chapter 2: The Party

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, songs, or anything mentioned in any of the games/songs/animes etc (...yet). All of my own characters belong to myself, and if you use them without my permission, I might get a little angry (though I doubt you will).**

* * *

It was 5'O clock in the afternoon, and the sunset was already kicking in. The sun was a beaming yellow ball surrounded by oranges, reds, yellows and browns, creating beautiful scenery that was the sky.

Miku observed this, and she exhaled, sadly. She leaned her body on the cold rails of the balcony, a position she frequently adopted.

"If only Len was here to look at the sky with me…" she muttered to herself, with a pang of sadness in her voice. She felt sick, _lovesick _that Len wasn't with her at that very moment.

She felt even sicker when she felt that mysterious warmth around her again. It wasn't as if she hated Len- Of course, she'd hate _herself _for that -, she just felt empty and the sickness was the only feeling replacing it. The feeling of being too far away from Len in such a matter of time was killing her inside. And she was sure he felt the same way.

Len's party was in an hour's time, and how she could not wait for it. She ached to be with him; even a touch of his skin would be enough to satisfy her sadness.

However, her thoughts were soon interrupted when Teto and her band of servants created a commotion in her room.

"Miku!" Teto shouted out, annoyingly, "It's less than an hour's time to Len's party and you aren't ready!"

Miku turned to face the servants, with some of her sadness remaining, "It doesn't matter, Teto, I'm sure I can manage fine with my current outfit."

"Len would not approve!" Teto commented, sharply. This provoked the princess even more.

"Teto, I do not need to change my outfit 5 times a day just to impress a guy I like!" Miku replied with annoyance. This seemed to stop Teto from talking, as Teto now had to think of her speech.

"Look, Miku, we can sort you an outfit, besides, I think you need something more first-class for the party." Luna asserted, stepping in for Teto.

Miku frowned, "Aren't my outfits first-class anyway?"

All of the servants shook their heads at that point, "Yes, but not good enough for a party."

Miku thought about it for a while. True, she had nice outfits and they stunned most people when they saw her wearing them, but then again, none of her outfits seemed to suit an occasion like _Len's party. _What would Len say if she wore one of those outfits? One would not approve!

"Hmmm… I guess you are right on that one…" Miku muttered, loud enough for them to hear. She continued to think of the advantages and disadvantages.

"Besides, I think it'd be even more wonderful if Len saw you in a new outfit!" Teto added.

"True, true… And his favourite colour is yellow… What about a yellow dress?" Miku questioned, still in thought. Teto and the other servants nodded in agreement.

"Fantastic! We'll quickly sort you out a yellow dress!" Teto assured, before heading off with the other servants, in search of the dress.

Meanwhile, Miku sat down on the wooden chair she used for when the servants prepared her, and continued thinking.

"How will they sort me out a dress in less than an hour?" Miku asked herself, as a rhetorical question. She looked at herself in the mirror, and begun to play with her curls. She almost had the shock of her life, however.

Spinning around in her chair, she cried out, "Len?!"

Although, Len wasn't there.

Miku sighed once more, and dropped her head in gloom.

"Am I really this lovesick?" she sighed.

* * *

Meanwhile, in the gardens where Len sat, a commotion could be heard nearby. Len was confused by this, and decided to observe it a little more.

Arising from his seat, he started to cautiously walk, so he wouldn't surprise himself as much. The steps were ever so quiet and ballerina-like, that it was certain _anyone _would get a shock if they saw him not making a single sound. Besides, he was quite a loud person, how could it not be a shock to oneself?

He had reached the source of the noise, and crouched down behind the water fountain nearby, though he poked his head out so he could see. Hiding.

"Teto, there isn't enough time to go out and get a dress! The party starts in less than an hour!" Kaito argued, against the head servant. If people could be set on fire, Teto would be more than a fireball.

She snapped at the blue-haired male, "We promised her we'd get her a dress!"

Len frowned confusedly, unaware of what plans they were discussing, "A party? And a dress? What on Earth are they on about?"

Len eavesdropped a little more, now intrigued by the events unfolding before him. What did they mean?

"Teto, I know you promised Miku but after all, I think she'd rather be at his party than waiting forever for a dress." Meiko sighed, adding to Kaito's point.

Len's eyes widened in shock at this statement. _Who's party? And why would Miku be going and him not?_

"And anyway, this dress is decent enough; it's yellow and has a lot of sparkly bits to it. Isn't that what you were after?" Kaito rose.

Teto tried to think of a comeback, but had no avail. She had to give in at that point, reluctantly at that.

"Ugh, you win Kaito." she unwillingly sighed, "She'll have to make do with it, whether she likes it or not."

Kaito clapped his hands in victory, "Nobody wins an argument against me! I'm always right!"

Meiko rolled her eyes in disgust at this, sarcastically. Her husband's cockiness would be the death of her; it was simply a personality flaw that he possessed.

"Anyway, we'd best be off, we need to hurry up and tell Len about it, and get Miku ready." Teto added, soon leaving Kaito and Meiko alone.

Kaito was the first to speak after Teto's departure, "I'm going to get Len's servants so they can sort him out. See you, Meiko."

He kissed her forehead before leaving her alone. Len, who had been watching the event, continued to hide behind the fountain, staying so quiet that you could probably hear a needle drop in his presence. Let anyone help him if Meiko discovered him hiding.

"Oh, yes! I need to tell Gakupo about the security!" Meiko cried aloud, before hurrying off in the opposite direction to Len.

Len was relieved over this, and exhaled loudly when Meiko was no longer in sight.

_What excuse should I think up…?, _ pondered Len, in his mind.

His eyes widened when he had an idea, _I know, I'll say I was practising my dancing! It's a perfect idea!_

* * *

"Len, we only have 20 minutes and you still aren't ready! What on Earth are you doing?!" shouted a red-haired servant approaching him. Len stopped his act at once, and faced the servant.

"20 minutes until what? I was practising my dancing, that's all." responded Len, who simply ruffled his hair. The servant shook his head in annoyance.

"…Make that 30 minutes."

"Fine, fine, I'll follow you, Ted. What is in 20 minutes, anyway?" Len gave in, not wasting any more time.

"Your party."

* * *

On the way to the dressing room, the two had discussed about the party. Len was quite surprised that he even had a party, as well as the fact that Miku would be there.

"Miku will be there? This will be the first time I've seen her in a while!" Len exclaimed, surprised yet excited.

Ted chuckled, "Don't get your hopes up too much; she hasn't changed in the slightest!"

Len smiled in response, "And that's one of the things I love about her."

The two arrived at the males' dressing room after Len had said this. Like Miku's room, it was fairly plain, but it had everything the servants needed to work. In the room, there were 4 servants; Kai, Kubi, Mathieu and Ted himself. Len sat down on the stool in front of the mirror in front and let the servants do their work on him.

* * *

No sooner or later, Len was ready. His hair had been neatly been tied into a ponytail, with a few strands running loose, as well as his fringe tidily arranged. He was wearing a dark grey shirt, with a brown waistcoat, as well as autumn-brown trousers and brown boots.

"You're good to go, Len!" Kubi commented, when the male servants had finished their handiwork. Len got up from his chair, and saw his appearance. He admired it, nodding to show his approval.  
"Thank you, guys." he acknowledged, gratefully, "I think I ought to go down now, the party will be starting in 5 minutes."

Ted had told him the details, such as who would be there, what it would be like, what it would be for and…

Him proposing to Miku at the party.

Initially, Len had been surprised and shocked but at the same time quite excited. However, as the minutes had gone by, he had become more worried and nervous.

_Nervous and worried over the fact that if Miku rejected him, he'd be a laughing stock. AKA. The end of his royal life. _

Len had tried assuring himself that she would _not _reject him, but even he couldn't be certain with himself. He made his way to his counts and dukes, where Kaito was also waiting.

"Len." he began, before proceeding to take out a black box from his pocket attached to his robe. Len frowned at the box unknowingly, it seemed familiar in shape and size, but he couldn't work out what was inside.

"You wanted to propose to Miku, right?" he continued, before handing the box to Len.

Len took the box from Kaito, shaking a little due to his nerves. He opened the box, though it took slightly longer to his shaking. He gasped.

Inside was a ring, a white-gold one. Embedded were jewels, and on the front of the ring, the part that everyone would see were three jewels; a citrine stone and a ruby stone were either side of a larger tanzanite stone, which stood out. Len shook a little more, and felt sweat slowly grow on his forehead, due to his nervousness.

_So they really did want me to propose to her… _thought Len, closing the box and clutching it for dear life. He tucked it away in his trouser pockets, well-hidden so nobody would really notice, unless they were the observant type.

"Y-you'd let me?" stuttered Len a little, feeling slight pressure from Kaito.

Kaito put a hand on Len's shoulder and smiled, "She really does love you, and you love her back. Meiko and I trust you'll treat her well. You have our approval."

Len was still stunned by all of this, "W-well… Thank y-you."

He was soon led with the counts and dukes, and was surrounded by servants, in case of an unexpected attack. There were many people already there; the countesses, the laydes, the duchesses and guests who were noble enough to be invited to the party. They cheered when the men entered, and cheered louder when Len was the last to enter, with Kaito and the servants. Some ladies threw red roses at him, in which he caught only one.

_I'll save that for Miku_, he thought, trying to stay as calm as possible. On his waistcoat, there was a pocket. He carefully placed the rose in the pocket, and continued to stand by Kaito as Kaito gave a speech.

Len looked around the crowds, and noticed something. Everyone was wearing a mask, apart from him and Kaito.

_A masquerade ball… It'll be harder finding Miku, then_, he continued on thinking. The masks varied in shapes, sizes and colours.

Len thought that it'd have to be a turquoise one, since that was Miku's favourite colour. He also thought it'd be elegant, since she _was _a princess. He had a rough idea of what he was looking for, so he considered using it in the search for her.

"And now I'll hand you over to Meiko, for her speech!" Kaito finished. This seemed to catch Len's attention for some reason. Something about it seemed to make him even more nervous. Kaito gestured Len to come with him, to take a seat where the noble and their parents would sit. And he saw- There was another throne, just for him. He sat down on this throne, which was next to Kaito's and what he assumed to be Miku's, and watched all the ladies-in-waiting file out.

He noticed his sister Rin, who was wearing an orange, strapless, floor-length dress. It had black lace around the chest, and there was a black ribbon which was tied around her hips. Her hair was the same as it was usually; the short, blonde crop with the fringe held back by clips, except the clips were orange, to go with her dress. She also wore a mask, an orange one that covered the top part of her face, but had gaps for her eyes. It also had black jewels carefully stuck on, to create a pattern, and a black feather was attached on the left-hand side. She walked off with the other ladies, leaving two women left on the platform opposite.

One of them wore a strapless red dress that was floor-length, and even had a little train. The red was a crimson colour, and stopped a little way before reaching the ground, showing a cream colour that must've been underneath. It had gold lace that ran under the woman's breasts, and over the right side, near the bottom. Jewels were embedded where the lace was, they were real diamonds. The woman wore a masquerade mask, like the other partygoers. Hers was silver, with gold and red glitter creating an amazing pattern. It started at her eyebrows and finished at the end of her nose, which made her look truly stunning.

_Then if that's Meiko, then who's the girl standing by her…?, _thought Len, observing the fact the red-dressed woman had brown hair, like Meiko. Besides, Kaito had even said it was Meiko.

The girl besides her seemed to gain the most attention, particularly with the men. She seemed to create a commotion amongst them all. The people whispered, something about how she looked stunning, Len heard.  
Her dress looked amazing, in Len's opinion. It was like a wedding dress, there was a corset and a skirt, though the two were stitched together. It was lemon yellow, Len's favourite colour. The dress reached to the ground like Meiko's, and had the same little train leading off of it. The corset had jewels embedded all of it, into swirls and curls, to make a pretty design. The skirt of the dress was simple, it had no designs except a band of yellow beads wrapped around the waist and hanging off of the dress. Like Meiko, the girl was wearing a mask.

The mask was much different to everyone else's, which seemed to attract the most attention. Like most of the people, her mask only covered from her eyebrows to the end of her nose. However, the mask wasn't made out of the materials that the other masks were made of; it was made of golden wire!  
Towards the top, there were three gems; a citrine on the left, a ruby stone on the right and in the middle was a tanzanite stone. Len gulped. Those three stones were in the same order as the stones on the ring, **_and _**they were the exact same stones, they were even the right size!

_That can't be… _Len pondered, shaking even more, feeling his eyes getting wider. The turquoise hair… It was all too familiar to him! He felt a lump form in his throat, and tried swallowing it. He felt his hands sweat like crazy, and shake even more. He was so nervous about the proposal, that Miku would reject him and she'd only treated him like a friend. Even with the reassurance he'd got earlier, he was still in denial about it. Part of him wanted to propose to her, but the other part was saying no.

"So everyone, have a good time and don't get too drunk!" concluded Meiko, who was met with a huge round of applause and cheers. Miku and she made their way over to the thrones, where Len saw Miku sit in the throne by him. As soon as she has sat down, Miku started to talk to Len.

"L-Len…?" she whispered, only loud enough for him to hear.

"Miku…" he replied, also murmuring.

Miku bit her lip, she seemed worried, "Why aren't you wearing a mask?"

"I wasn't g-given one… But I'm sure Ted's b-brought it with him…"

Miku said no more, and Len started to feel even more nervous. He was so nervous that he could've had a breakdown there and then, but he refrained himself from doing so. Len decided to get up from his throne and wander off to find Len. He was allowed to, anyway.

* * *

"Ted!" Len cried, arriving at the drinks bar. He panted, wiping the sweat he had acquired off of his forehead.

Ted turned around, and instantly looked at him with shock, "Len! What happened?"

"I'll tell you in a minute, just give me my damn mask!" Len responded, almost shouting. Ted picked up the mask from the chair that it'd once been on, and tossed it towards Len. Len caught it with ease, though he had nerves.

He took a look at it. It was the same kind as Miku's, though his was made out of the same materials as Meiko's. It was brown with red patterns on it. Len sighed, letting out a few nerves as he placed the mask on himself.

"There we are! You're not the odd one out anymore!" remarked Ted, "Anyway, why do you seem so… Strange?"

Len exhaled again, "I'm just so damn nervous about proposing to Miku!"

Ted widened his eyes, "You need a drink!"

"Yeah, a massive one, that's what I need!" retorted Len.

"Aren't you a bit young for that?" questioned Ted, tilting his head a little in confusion.

"I'm not! Now just give me my damn drink!" shouted Len. Ted said no more, and immediately rushed away to make his drink.

"There!" he announced, placing the drink in front of Len. Len promptly picked up the drink and gulped it down extremely quickly. He gasped for air as he placed the glass back down on the counter with speed.

"That's better…" He sighed.

Ted gave him the stern eye, "No more, kiddo. Now go and make everyone proud!"

Len hurried off back to where Miku was. He felt better after having that drink; it had seemed to heal his nerves.

Len soon arrived at his throne, and sat down in it again. The drink numbed his feelings, so he didn't feel as nervous anymore.

Another song started, and it was a slow, romantic song. Len decided that it'd be a good time to dance with Miku, and propose to her.

He took her hand and smiled, "Come Miku, let's dance."

Miku let out a small smile in return and followed him to the dance floor. A lot of people were dancing, so Miku and Len joined in. Slow dancing… The perfect way to start off a proposal.

As the song went on, Len felt like proposing to her more and more. He wanted her to be his, to marry her and rule with her. He decided that at the end of the song, it'd probably be the best time to do so.

* * *

The song soon finished after, and Miku was about to walk off back to her throne. As she was walking away, Len stopped her.

"Miku! I need to ask you something!" he cried, the nerves kicking back in.

The room seemed to fall silent as he had said that. People hushed one another, and Miku turned to face him.

_…Damn nerves, not the best time to be kicking in!_, he thought to himself. The familiar sweat on his forehead returned, and butterflies began to build up in his stomach.

"Yes?" she responded, oblivious to what Len was about to ask her. The room was deadly silent, and Len knew he'd have to pull off a good show. Oh, the weight on his shoulders he had.

He felt his fists clench with nerves as they lay by his side, "I'm not even sure how to put it, but I guess I'll try my best."

Miku frowned unknowingly, as Len dove into the pocket where the box lay. He brought it out, and opened it, showing Miku the contents inside.

Miku gasped in shock, as did everyone else. They seemed to mutter, as the commotion built up.

Len quietened the people, and saw his friends in deep awe. He turned back to Miku, who had a hand around her mouth.

"I'll admit, I'm pretty nervous about this." He started, "Well, it was burning me to hold onto it. I needed to give it to someone, someone special. It's something I have to do, but that doesn't mean I'm doing it reluctantly. It's out of free will."

He saw Miku tremor, with tears forming in her eyes.

"I don't want to keep you waiting anyway, what I'm trying to say is that- I love you, Miku." continued he. He dropped to one knee, as all men do in proposals.

"Princess Miku." he stated, "Will you take my hand in marriage?"

His eyes fell on Miku, whose bottom lip was trembling. Was she nervous? Had he gone too far? Did he say something wrong?

"I do!" she cried, before throwing herself into him, embracing him tightly. He lifted himself up, and returned the hug. Cheers and applauses were heard, as some chanted their names. He felt her cry as she buried her face into his neck. He continued returning the gesture, in shock that she'd said yes. He saw her teary-eyed face as she pulled away, sighing as she did so. He placed the ring on her finger on her right hand and smiled.

"I never even thought you would've said yes." Len said, as he started making his way back to the thrones with Miku.

Miku replied, "Well, I thought you would've never asked."

The two sat on their thrones when they arrived, and Meiko and Kaito followed them to their's.

Kaito smiled at Len, "I'm glad you did that. I'm delighted that you've made her happy."

"We can finally plan the wedding!" Meiko added, joyfully. Len and Miku smiled at that, and continued to enjoy themselves.

* * *

Len slowly trod on the stairs towards his room. He was exhausted from all the partying he had done in the night, and a nice slumber would do him good. As he reached the floor where his room was, he sighed happily.

"Oh, I can't wait to just lie in and get some sleep…" he sighed, thinking about it like it was a dream. He dragged his feet along to his door. However, Miku had other ideas.

"Len!" she shouted as she got to his floor. Len stepped away from his door, and turned to see Miku.

"Yes?"

With no further words, she came towards him and grabbed his wrists.

"Just let me do this, just before I sleep, at least." She pleaded, with puppy-dog eyes. Len said nothing, he felt a blush coming on his face but he couldn't be bothered to prevent it. Miku leaned in, just inches away from his face. She cupped his face with both of her hands, smiling as she did so.

Len was aware that she had kissed him, but it all seemed too surreal. She had tasted like the alcohol she had been drinking at the party, and thank goodness for him, it was a nice taste! He was also aware that she'd put her arms around his neck and he hadn't declined it. He knew he had enjoyed it, and didn't want to let go of Miku. But he had to, which was why he was in his room, soundly sleeping. However, neither he nor Miku were aware of the fact that somebody was watching them the entire time. And that somebody was already planning a disaster…

* * *

**Thanks for your reviews, Crystalyna, HiminaChanTteba and B.A.G-GOMEZ! Reviews make me so happy, so I really appreciate it ^_^  
**


	3. Chapter 3: Miku Hatsune's Disappearance

Chapter 3- The disappearance of Miku Hatsune

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, songs, or anything mentioned in any of the games/songs/animes etc (...yet). All of my own characters belong to myself, and if you use them without my permission, I might get a little angry (though I doubt you will).**

****

"She's gone!"

"The princess has disappeared!"

"Send out the search parties!"

Len was woken up by these cries. Rubbing his eyes, he heard someone enter his room, seemingly upset, judging by the noise they had made getting in.

"Len! Come down, this is urgent!" cried Rin, the one who had entered his room uninvited. She sounded distressed. It must've been serious, since she was a normally buoyant person.

Len slowly got himself up, still feeling tired, "Eh? What's the matter?"

"Just hurry up and get ready!" she shouted, before exiting the room. Len frowned confusedly at her departure.

"Well that's rather odd; I wonder what could be the issue."

He slowly walked over to his wardrobe, and looked to see if he could find anything to wear.

Slipping on a pair of black trousers, a plain white blouse and a black jacket, the blond boy made his way out of his room and travelled down the stairs. His fringe was immaculate, but the rest of his hair had just been lazily tied up into a ponytail. Travelling downwards brought back the pain in his legs from the day beforehand. It had hurt climbing all of those stairs when he was tired, and it was going to hurt now descending down the staircase. By the time he had reached the bottom of the stairs, he was met with a crying Meiko and a worried Kaito. He still felt groggy, though he started to feel concerned himself. There was no Miku, and she hasn't even appeared. It must've been something to do with her.

"Kaito? Meiko?" Len asked, confused by the drama. Kaito signalled for someone to come over. Teto came towards him and took Meiko from him, leading Meiko away from the drama.

Len still seemed overly confused by it all, "Kaito? What's happening?"

Kaito turned back to him, looking overly-depressed, much to Len's surprise.

"Your fiancée is missing."

Those were the words that would be enough to send Len into panic.

"Is this a joke?" he asked, worrying more and more.

"If this was a joke, do you think I would be laughing?!" shouted Kaito, angrily. Len clutched his chest, and took a step back. Widening his eyes, he averted his gaze in deep sadness.

Kaito realised his mistake, "I'm sorry, Len. The whole thing is making me upset. As it is with everyone."

"Did you check the gardens or anything?" questioned Len, who sighed with great grief.

"Our search parties are out looking for her, though she could be anywhere. I thought she was responsible enough not to go alone like this!"

Len left Kaito and ran up the stairs. The last thing he wanted right now was to be surrounded by mourners of Miku's disappearance. He wanted to be alone, where no one would go mourning over him. He wanted to believe it was a lie, but how could he when Miku was gone. It wasn't every day that Miku disappeared.

He flew into his room and slammed the door, sliding down it in sadness. He leaned his back against the door, and closed his eyes, shutting out anything he could see. He had never felt so much sorrow in his entire life.

A knock.

"What?" moodily inquired Len, who was still sitting against the door.

"Mail. I guess I'll slide it underneath the door." replied the knocker.

As the person had said, they posted the mail to Len underneath the door. Silently, he picked the mail up. A letter addressed to him.

Tearing open the envelope, what he was now holding was a letter. The letter had many rips and tears in it, as if someone had tried to take it from someone else. The letter was also folded, and the paper was plain white.

He opened it. The handwriting looked unfamiliar, as did the ink.

_Who could've possibly written this…?_, he said in his head.

_Dear Len,_

Its game over for your fiancée. Well, it isn't for now, but it will be. I bet you're shocked, or you don't believe me. Its fine, because then we can continue to torment your wife-to-be!

But, if you choose to believe me… It won't be easy getting her back.

Remember, observe everything. Pointing out the obvious gets you nowhere.

-Mar.

Len finished reading the letter. Whoever this Mar. person was, they had the answers to where Miku was. They even _hinted _at the fact they had her captive! If he could find this Mar. stranger, he could get Miku back to safety quicker.

Len didn't feel any sadness anymore. He felt anger and pain, towards Mar.. How could she be so sadistic, about the fact they would hurt Miku? In fact, how could one be so gleeful to hurt someone else?

This had to be addressed to the Royal Council. It was evidence, after all. Len got himself up and headed for the common room, where the meetings normally took place. Walking down the stairs he once hated meant nothing now. Finding Miku only meant everything to him.

"Len?" questioned a distraught Kaito as Len walked into the common room. Len said nothing; he simply gave the letter to Kaito to read. Kaito read the ripped paper, his reaction changing as he read on.

"That's… Terrible." he managed to comment as he finished reading the letter. Kaito folded it back together and returned the letter to Len.

"Tell me about it."

Kaito had an idea, "Let's gather the Royal Council and discuss it that way. We'll be able to nominate a team to go out and find her, along with our search parties."

* * *

Soon after, the council were gathered. There were 12 members in total, including Len and Kaito. The members sat around a large table, in the centre of the room. This was where they usually held their meetings. Kaito would sit at the end, since he led the meetings, and Len would sit next to him, as Len helped run them. The rest of the council would sit in assigned places, though the places were randomly given out.

That procedure happened today, except no one bothered to keep the same places. No one really cared about where they sat.

"We gather today to discuss the disappearance of the princess." Kaito started, "Teto discovered this morning that Miku wasn't in her room, and she was nowhere to be seen. True?"

The council nodded in agreement, causing Kaito to continue.

"Len got a note today, however. We think it's important that you hear it, it could contribute towards the search." Kaito added, signalling Len to start reading the letter he had received. He didn't bother to stand up and read it, there really was no point.

_"Dear Len, _

_Its game over for your fiancée. Well, it isn't for now, but it will be. I bet you're shocked, or you don't believe me. Its fine, because then we can continue to torment your wife-to-be! _

_ But, if you choose to believe me… It won't be easy getting her back. _

_ Remember, observe everything. Pointing out the obvious gets you nowhere. _

_ -Mar."_

Len read it out, in a monotonic voice. He was just as struck by Miku's disappearance, as was everyone else.

"Sire, I have something to say." stated Lui, a count who sat near Len, "In the letter, it's mentioned that the author writes "we". Do you think others are behind this?"

Kaito rested his gaze on Lui, considering what he had said.

"Potentially. We don't know who has her, and we don't know anything about them. It could be anyone. Even anyone in this room."

"But then why would someone here kidnap her? It'd be a bit foolish that they'd even turn up." Lui rose, "I'm thinking they were at the party yesterday."

Big Al, another count on the Council sat near the other end of the table. His forename wasn't really Big Al; Big Al was just an alias. Quite a silly one, given that he wasn't exactly big in any way. In fact, he was about just as big as everyone around that table. Although, he had a significantly deeper voice than the other men around the wooden object, so he was big in a way that his vocal chords were deep. He spoke after Lui, asking:

"At the party? But why so? Surely they wouldn't have got in with all of that security?"

"It's a funny matter, though." started Lui, "I've heard about how people can get into private events. Since this was a masquerade ball, all one would've needed is a mask that could disguise themselves and they would've got in as quick as anything. So if I'm honest, I believe I'm right for that reason."

Lui was a smart man. Though he was the youngest member of the Royal Council, his knowledge exceeded many. He was good at detective work; he was the main mastermind for plots to capture criminals. It was even wondered often if he had any contributions to these crimes, since his suspicions tended to be out of the blue, yet they were always right.

One could say that he was always right, but that would be lying a little. On some occasions, some of his assumptions had been incorrect at first, but they were soon altered and proven right. At least for now, he had always been correct.

Len frowned unknowingly. Thinking about it, Lui could just be right. The chances were quite high of what he said. Then again, he found it hard to believe at the same time. What if there was something else that made it not fit in place? He was uncertain himself, to the extent where he thought that Lui may have been right. He was too caught up in the whole thing; he'd probably believe anything and be a complete idiot for it.

"You'd think that, but perhaps they had been here before that. They could've been disguising themselves for longer than we think." Duke Leon interjected. The relationship between him and Lui was odd; Leon had a hatred for Lui for some bizarre reason. A lot of people had thought it was because he was jealous of Lui's talent, but Leon had denied these claims countless times.

Lui placed both hands on the table, tensely, "And what's that supposed to say about me?"

"That you're jumping to conclusions too soon." Leon responded, slyly. Lui was about to make a comeback, but he was stopped by Len's interruption.

"Perhaps this meeting would go more swiftly if we didn't have the likes of you two arguing. The main point of this meeting is to discuss potential causes and consequences, not about how you guys want to bite each other's heads off." Len growled, seemingly offended by the sparks though they didn't involve him. Lui and Leon turned away from each other, abiding by Len's wishes.

"Anyway, we thought that we should send another team out, since the more teams we have, the better." Kaito said, getting back to the main reason, "Now, there's a slight problem: One, we don't have any more men on the search party team who are able to do this duty, and two, we're out of weapons."

"What are you trying to play at, Kaito?" seethed Leon, who by now was burning since the debate with Lui had left some bad blood.

Kaito averted his gaze, as he tilted his head a little, "Perhaps some of us should try. It'd be a small team of around 5 people but that should be enough."

"Then I'm not in for it. Huh!" shouted Leon as he exited the room, slamming the door after him. The other men watched him do so, feeling the impact of the slammed door.

Kaito was the first to speak after that, "Then that's one man out. One very disrespectful man, must I add."

"How about if we address the issue where we sort out who's the best at fighting?" proposed Gakupo, a close friend of Len. The others nodded in agreement at this.

"Len's good at swordsmanship, as are Gakupo and Piko." Big Al stated, "But you said 5 people, Kaito, that's only 3."

Kaito rested his crossed arms on the table, "Then how about Lui. As he is full of knowledge, I'm sure he'd be able to contribute towards this."

Again, the 11 men bobbed their heads at this. The plan seemed to be straightforward, seemingly.

Len stood up, however.

"As much as I agree with the points you've all made, I have one more request to make. It might spark controversy amongst you all, though." He started, "I'd like you all to consider my sister, Rin."

As Len had predicted, they disagreed with him.

"A girl going out to fight? Be cool, Len!" Oliver cried.

"That girl wouldn't even know a think about how to handle a sword!" Big Al added to Oliver's point. Len folded his arms in defence, trying not to show he was offended by the fact they had insulted his sister's swordsmanship.

"But that's where you are wrong! My sister is actually very skilled! And who's to say she's a girl, she gives off the appearance of a male! Rin is a skilled swordswoman; she is almost as good as I. If she was not, would I suggest her?"

"Probably." sarcastically commented Piko, at the corner of the table, opposite Len.

"She's an artist, not a fighter, Len."  
_  
_"Men! Don't tell him that Rin is a weakling at fighting! I've seen her before, and she's rather skilled, her skills are on par with Len's. Besides, I think a female in the team would be good, especially if she looks masculine." Kaito interrupted, for Len's sake, "Besides, it's Len's fiancée, I'm sure he'll want his sibling- His closest friend- with him."

Kaito's speech had silenced the arguers thankfully, for Len. In all honesty, Len wanted his sibling to be there with him, as the two were inseparable. Given they were twins, you couldn't blame them. Rin was also Miku's closest friend, so he was sure she'd want to help out.

Len raised his hand, to sign for 'thank you', without disrupting the mood. He then stood up, resting one of his hands on the table.

"Then it is settled. Rin, Lui, Piko, Gakupo and I will be in the team. I'll go and tell my sister about the plans now." He spoke before exiting the room. Kaito knew him well enough to know that Len said to him: "Don't make a huge commotion of it, will you?"

Of course, the two had a father-and-son relationship. Len was the son, and Kaito was the father. They both had a language that nobody else really knew, which was fine for them since they could be saying something completely normal, whereas underneath, there was a whole new meaning. Even body language was a part of this, as was eye movements and hand gestures. The language was so secretive, not even Lui could decipher it.

However, this language was not something they had had a secret meeting about. As with all friends, inside jokes and communication between begin to grow, as did Len and Kaito's friendship. From the low whispers came simple gleams of the eye, and mouthing became subliminal messages. So as one could imagine, the two were very close. __

Len almost powerwalked to Rin's room. He had walked so quickly, anyone could classify it as either jogging or speed walking. He thought Rin would be in her boudoir since she hadn't been creating a racket since she'd woken him up with the surprising news. She would usually paint, though she was a loud person herself. Unlike most of the ladies-in-waiting, she didn't wear a dress. In fact, she was the only female noble who didn't wear woman's fashion. She only ever wore dresses at formal occasions, and even then, she loathed dresses.

As an artist, her usual fashion would consist of a pair of dungarees, normally clean since it was unacceptable to wear dirty rags in a place as noble as a castle. She'd also wear a cornflower yellow shirt underneath, frequently rolled up, since she was the type who loved to get messy. She also wore white clips in her hair, to keep her fringe away from her eyes, as she found it distracting and annoying. This was also the sole reason why her hair was so short; it was annoying and irritated her. Sometimes Len had wished for a sister who was more ladylike, but he was grateful at the same time that he didn't have a sibling who would comment on his scruffiness.

Ted was approaching him in the opposite direction to him as he was speeding along. Len had to halt himself, taking a few extra steps as he did so and catching his breath, as he pondered:

"Ted! Have you seen Rin?"

"No, I have not." replied Ted, who was carrying a list of errands, "However, Teto has told me that her and the laydes are conversing in the atrium."

"Thank you." was what Len had spoken with before going off again, heading towards the atrium.

Ted and Teto, much like Len and Rin, were siblings, though not twins. Ted was the elder sibling, though he acted a lot younger than he was, partly because most of the people he worked for were many years his junior. The siblings and most of their friends worked for the princess and the nobles, since they had come from a country which suffered from a great amount of poverty. It had been auctioned-based, in a way, except Kaito and Meiko were given most of the slaves since they were royals, unlike most of the auctioneers. To express gratitude, the slaves would work to their best they could perform, which would please Kaito and Meiko, as well as the rest of the royals.

Len paused to catch a breath as he reached the room Rin was supposedly waiting in. He'd have hoped she was in here, given that he had been left exhausted from the jogging he'd been doing.

He knocked once, and surprised himself when there was an instant response of: "Come in."

Len pushed open the large door in front of him and stepped in, noticing the smell of assorted perfumes as he walked in. Plants sat in the corner, which were mainly lilies and roses.

The second thing that caught him was the laydes themselves. To be precise, they were the ladies-in-waiting.

Rin sat in the centre, and her fellow laydes sat around her, which were; Luka, Neru, SeeU and IA, to put in order of lady-in-waiting-ship. SeeU and IA used nicknames since their names were too long to say, let alone the difficulty in pronunciation.

Rin was wearing a white vest-top with an orange cardigan. Her skirt was pleated, and orange, the same colour as her cardigan. Her tights were black and her shoes were orange, just like her skirt and cardigan. It was odd for Rin to wear such an outfit, since she despised female attire. The other girls wore similar outfits, each with their own colour to match the girl who wore the clothes and tailored lengths. Rin and the others looked at Len, each with the same gaze that unsettled Len a little.

"H-hey!" stuttered Len, seemingly taken aback by the gazes of the girls, "I'm not going to hurt you guys, I just wanted to speak to Rin for a moment."

Rin arose from the girls, like a blooming flower, her skirt falling to her knees. She had seemed to have changed; she seemed more serious and mysterious. Either it was Miku's absence that had left her like that, or she had had a talk with the laydes. As far as Len knew them, they were talks where the girls would contemplate about their lives. Just boring stuff girls found interesting.

Without words, she followed Len out of the atrium, and stopped with him, just outside.

"You could've just told the laydes to leave, Len." Rin pointed out.

Len sighed, but smiled anyway, "I suppose you're right."

Rin frowned, and then asked: "So, brother, what did you want?"

He shuddered at the word _brother_. It seemed way too formal. It was something that Lui would call him, usually when he said: "See you soon, brother."

Yet that was ironic, since she wasn't going to be seeing him soon. He didn't know what had triggered the weird feeling, but there was something in Rin's voice that made the word almost sound husky. It was like déjà vu to him, for some reason. Len shook his head.

"We talked with the Royal Council, you see, and we have a request." Started Len, almost nervously due to his sister's strange mood. If the mood had been some sort of cover-up, it had failed since Rin's old attitude came back, with the familiar widening of eyes in shock that Len also processed.

_…Should have he even called it 'old'?_

Rin shrugged, "Yes, yes, if it's about those damned art supplies then you ought to tell them that I will be making a payment soon."

"No, no, no, no, no!" cried out Len in response, holding the first 'no' longer than the rest, "You see, we discussed about sending out another search party."

"I thought there weren't any more men to go searching."

"Yes, hence why I'm telling you. We're sending out 5 nobles." Explained Len to his twin. His sister somehow didn't understand his point.

"And what has this to do with me?" she asked, placing one hand on her hip. Len folded his arms in turn.

"You see, Piko, Lui, Gakupo and I were chosen. However, we needed 5 and we thought a female could be quite good for the team." Started he, "Well, what I guess I'm trying to say is that…"

He was interrupted by his sister, who gave off a hard-hit look. She looked to the ground, still with her hand on her hip, and quietly sighed.

"I look like a boy, and I'm a good fighter, so you want me to join you because a woman can deal with boys when they're angry at each other." Was what she had spoken.

Len gave her the same look she had been producing, "Essentially. And besides, I could do with my favourite sister…"

Really, Rin would've said no, but Len was smirking as if to say: "You and I both know that you won't say no."

His eyes gleamed mischievously, he knew he had won and was already celebrating his victory.

Rin thought to herself: _If you weren't my twin, I'd have smashed your face in by now!_

Which of course, was true. If the Kagamines weren't twins, they would have each other's necks by now and a potentially worse relationship than Lui and Leon. Even though from time to time they tended to threaten each other, they knew they meant it jokingly inside. Like Len and Kaito, the two had a secret communication system. As well as that, they had the most unbreakable bond known to man.

Rin sighed in defeat, "Then fine, you win Len."

"Good, then follow me, Rin!"

She was led to the Common Room by her brother, who had taken her wrist and was the one leading her there. He was pleased with himself, though he knew it was easy to win over his sister. Again, Rin could've done the same to him but if it was to find Miku then he'd have guessed that she wouldn't have been able to deny his request.

"Hey look, it's the boy and his he-she sister!" Big Al announced as the blond twins entered the room. They didn't bother to sit down; they stood by Kaito, who was standing in a similar fashion.

"Don't be so crude, Al. You know you wouldn't say that if Ann was here." Commented Rin, who gave him an annoyed look. She would've "Given him a piece of her mind", but she was too lazy to do that. Besides, they needed to fight Miku's kidnapper, not Big Al. The surprise comeback from Rin surprised everyone, not least Al himself. Normally Rin would go insane and literally beat up whoever had been mean to her, so it came as a wonder to Al how she had composed herself. A good wonder, at that, at least he wouldn't be tortured today, in that case.

Big Al shook his head in defeat, "Whatever you say, artist."

"You know I'm right, anyway."

Len folded his arms once again, groaning as he did so, "I went all the way to get my sister to have to deal with quarrelling?"

"Nope!" Kaito shouted, slamming his hand down on the table, "No fighting!"

Rin wrapped her arm around her brother's; in a fashion they'd usually do if Miku weren't around. They'd done it a lot in the run-up to the party.

Len was thankful himself he'd proposed to Miku before she was captured. He was even more thankful she had accepted it, though he wasn't so grateful for the abducting. When he would find the criminal, he mentally told himself that he'd be the one who would kill them. Even if it was one of his best friends.

"So we have a team sorted. We now just need to fetch you guys some weapons and you're good to go!" cried Kaito in joy, that they were finding his beloved goddaughter.

Gakupo gave a small smile and chuckled quietly, "Since when did you need to find them, Kaito? I know someone with a few spares…"

* * *

**Thanks for the review, Crystalyna and B.A.G-GOMEZ! Much obliged!**

B.A.G-GOMEZ, I'll try my hardest not to, but the literature I was brought up by contains a lot of flamboyance, though I shan't try to go way too over-the-top. And yes, thanks for telling me that! I always thought there was something suspicious about that 'leek'…

Crystalyna: They won't end up as a Mary Sue freaky thing, I can assure you that! I detest Mary Sues myself, and I like to make the villains seem unexpected, which also applies for this story! However, if the villain/s seem/s no good… I'll allow you to flame me xD

So this chapter might have a few parts that either seem really staged or parts that don't sound right. It was intended, since in the next chapter there'll be an explanation to that. So bear with me, I shall have the chapter up soon!


	4. Chapter 4: The Quest Begins

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, songs, or anything mentioned in any of the games/songs/animes etc (...yet). All of my own characters belong to myself, and if you use them without my permission, I might get a little angry (though I doubt you will).**

* * *

****

Five warriors exited the castle on the next day, as the sun was rising. It was quiet, yet cold due to the winter season. Each person was dressed in a different colour, to distinguish each fighter from the other. After all, one would find it quite hard to recognise their friends if they had a hooded cloak covering their face, especially if the cloaks were the same colour.

One wore a yellow cloak, another wore an amber-coloured cloak, the tallest wore a lavender-shaded outfit, the second-shortest was wearing dark grey attire and the person by the yellow stranger wore an orange cloak. It was no other than Len, Lui, Gakupo, Piko and Rin.

"Remind me why we're doing this, again?" Rin asked.

"Because we needed to send out another search party that didn't have damn-awful weapons." answered Len, "We had no more guys who could do the job and they weren't reporting back or anything."

"And we all knew that we 5 would be the perfect team anyway, it didn't even need to be contemplated upon." added Lui.

Rin pointed at Lui in a manner and cried: "Liar! You're lying!"

"I never lie, Rin."

"You just did! Seriously!" she shouted again, making the whole team stop in their tracks.

"Then how did I supposedly 'lie'?" inquired Lui, folding his arms and sighing in an annoyed tone.

"Big Al. That's your answer." She responded, getting a frown from the others in return.

"Eh?" questioned Piko.

"You're kidding me, guys?" exhaled the tomboy girl, "You don't even know why Al seemed annoyed about me joining?"

"Ah, I remember." Gakupo interfered, "Something anti-feminist, I think."

Rin rolled her eyes, "Typical men."

The group started to walk again. They were heading towards a shop in which Gakupo knew the owner. He'd described the owner as a girl you didn't want to be the enemy of, which had unsettled the team a little. The shop was to the north-east of the castle, nearly 4 miles in distance.

"Yeah, so that's why we were picked. It still seemed a bit fixed but nobody argues with Kaito." Lui finished, "It's a universal truth."

"Oh, really?" sarcastically replied Rin, "And the second is that Lui is a smart ass genius?"

"Yep!" winked Lui, taking Rin's comment as a compliment where it wasn't intended. Rin growled before folding her arms as she continued to walk. She somewhat thought to herself about how she was an idiot for agreeing to Len's proposal.

_If I knew that Lui wouldn't be so shrewd with his mouth then I would've said no!_, Rin thought, _Then again, I suppose it'll all be worth it in the end…_

* * *

Miku slowly opened her eyes. She felt groggy and somewhat sick, for some reason that she couldn't figure out. The place she was in seemed strange; it looked too grand to be her bedroom.

She pondered: _I wonder where I could be…_

Arising from where she had once been, she felt something wasn't right. Her outfit was most certainly not that dress she had worn to Len's party.

That was a point, where _was _Len?

"Len?" she quietly questioned, unbeknownst that he, neither any of her friends or family were there.

She looked down at her clothes. A simple, white dress that fell to the ground was what she was wearing, with no shoes or accessories. She also felt her hair wasn't tied up. Nothing seemed to hurt, so she assumed that she hadn't been harmed in any way. Miku wasn't bound to anything, to her relief.

She checked herself anyway, just in case there were injuries that she couldn't feel.

Left arm… Nothing. Right arm… Nothing. Left leg… Nothing. Right leg… Nothing.

Wait; there was _something_ on her right arm. She looked again, to make sure she wasn't fooling herself.

_01_.

_01… What does that mean?_, Miku thought to herself. She somehow felt uneasy, since the environment was unfamiliar. She was in some sort of room, a large one. There was nothing special to it; there were no pictures, storage boxes or cabinets. Just a bed, a stool and a window, covered with a single curtain. Miku walked over to the window, each step slow and graceful.

Drawing back the curtain, she peered out. A quiet, cloudless day, where the sky was a silvery-blue colour and the sun was radiant. The ground was a plain concrete, there was no grass or pavements. Wherever this was, it definitely wasn't the castle.

"Ah, so you're awake!" a voice spoke, near Miku. Miku faced her back to the window, turning around fast in fright of the speaker. There was a woman standing opposite her, at the other side of the room. Miku's eyes were wide with fright and anger, at this stranger.

"Who are you?" Miku spat in anger and in question, though she was filled with nervousness. The lady sent out a chilling laugh in response, much to Miku's annoyance.

"It's not my duty to tell you _that_, Miku." The woman chuckled. The woman didn't look familiar; she had long, ash blonde hair which was partly tied up into a ponytail. Her skin was sand-coloured, and her eyes were piercing blue. She was around the same height as Miku and was wearing a black cloak, which wasn't hooded. The thing that struck Miku the most was her smile. The smile was cat-like, and her eyes were narrowed as she did this, which made her all the more creepier.

"Then go against your duties." said Miku, folding her arms in defence, though she didn't have anything to defend, exactly.

"No, I can't do that." The woman responded, still creepily smiling. Miku exhaled, irritated, and pointed at this woman, as if she held a knife.

"Fine, tell me where I am!"

The woman began to laugh even more, "You stupid girl! You won't be getting _any_ answers _any _time soon!"

Miku let her arm naturally fall back to her side. She averted her gaze from this woman, assumingly upset by the lack of answers she was getting.

The woman exited, but gave a message before she left, "And be ready when the master asks you questions!"

Slamming the door behind her, Miku was left alone in the room again. Shaking, Miku walked over to the bed and fell back onto it. Why was it so tough to get a few answers she so badly needed?

She sighed, before closing her eyes. She'd give anything to be home again.

* * *

"Rin, stop doubting yourself. You know that you're a good fighter." Len sighed. His sister was in state of denial, refusing to believe she was good enough. He knew Big Al and Oliver had made her that way, and Gakupo had made it even worse when he explained everything that was said and done during the meeting when she wasn't there. Girls were sensitive creatures, he contemplated. They joked differently to how men joked. It was surprising for him; he thought he knew everything about his twin.

"Yeah, just because you're a girl, it doesn't mean you're a bad fighter!" Lui added, supportively. Unfortunately, with people often being prejudice in Cryptonia, there was a fixed mind-set that girls were bad fighters and shouldn't ever pick up a sword. Though Rin could often get away with it from time to time, seeing as she looked rather masculine, when people found out she'd be told either "Get back to painting, yer scurvy lass!" or "Women should never pick up a sword!". That depressed the blonde twin, because she did enjoy fighting, and to be told that she shouldn't be doing what she loved was quite upsetting for her.

"Whatever you say, Len, Lui. I'll still be in denial about it." sighed the girl, finishing off the debate. She crossed her arms like a scolding mother, though she wasn't scolding anyone herself. Really, she just felt sorrowful over the fact that her brother and his friend were trying to make her see something that a lot of people couldn't, including her. Gakupo and Piko, who hadn't spoken much, if not, at all, continued to walk. Gakupo was the one farthest ahead, since he was trying to remember the directions to the shop, and didn't wish for anyone to speak to him during that time. Piko was just simply quiet; it was supposed that he was just having a deep thought, as he usually would.

* * *

"We're here." Gakupo stated, stopping at a small-sized building. It was the size of a detached house, without an upstairs part. It was painted jet black along the door frame and the door itself, as it was with the sign that represented the shop's name. There was a large window at either side of the door, though what you were supposed to see inside was concealed by plain blinds, drawn down.

"Mayu's Weapons, eh?" Piko commented, observing the name of the shop, whilst folding his arms. His cloak was much too large for him, as it was with everyone but Gakupo.

"Mayu is a friend of mine, you can trust her." Gakupo specified, raising an eyebrow at Piko, so he wouldn't get the wrong idea. Piko simply shrugged at him, as if to say: "Fair enough.".

Gakupo unhurriedly opened the door, slowly since he didn't want to disturb Mayu. He'd known the girl to be rather clumsy, yet paranoid, though she was a lovely person if you looked past her flaws. He also knew that she carried around an axe to defend herself in any situation given, and to startle her would certainly mean you'd be getting a blow to the head or a limb.

As soon as he had opened the door completely, he stepped in, whilst ushering his younger friends inside. The room was fairly tidy, except the desk, which was at the opposite end of the room. The desk was strewn with papers, calculators and books, with a female sitting in the midst of it all.

"Hey, Mayu." greeted Gakupo, who sounded a little more cheerful than he had been. The girl who had been sitting in the mess looked up to him, her golden eyes meeting his purple eyes.

She tilted her head unknowingly, like she recognised him but didn't know from where, "Gakupo?"

"It really is me, Mayu."

She smiled, arising from where she had been sitting. She clasped her hands together, closing her eyes and smiling like a wish of her's had come true.

"I thought you'd never return, Gakupo." She quietly said, happily.

"Of course I'd return Mayu; I wasn't going to just sit there on my backside all day, doing nothing." Gakupo responded, "We've been out of touch for too long."

"I know we have, Gakupo."

Piko stepped forwards from the others, and frowned at the girl. The girl's hair was a unique colour, a mix of olive green and sandy blonde, creating a whole new colour that he had never seen. What was even stranger was the fact that her hair seemed to change into completely different colours towards the end of her strands. Was it even possible to do that? He wasn't exactly an expert at women's hair, neither was anyone on the team. Well, he didn't count Rin because she didn't act very girly.

"Gakupo, how do you know this girl?" Piko questioned, partly because he thought there was something fishy about her. It was clear that the two had had a past where they knew each other, and had gone separate ways. But neither he, nor any of the others had heard him mention a girl like her once.

Gakupo turned to the white-haired boy, and the others in their cloaks, "She was my childhood friend, before I joined the Royal Council. After I joined the Council, we parted ways."

Upon hearing the purple-haired man's explanation, Piko was satisfied. Piko hadn't ever had to leave a friend, which made him feel sorry for Gakupo. He supposed that was the reason Gakupo was so protective of Luka, because Gakupo didn't want to leave her either. He'd never thought about parting ways from anyone, he'd just assumed he wouldn't have to leave anybody like that.

"I see." responded Piko.

"Anyway, we were just looking to see if you have any weapons, is all." Gakupo clarified, changing the subject. Mayu laughed at him in response, sweetly.

"Of course I have weapons! This is a weapons shop, you know?" giggled Mayu, earning a sigh from Gakupo, who had realised how stupid his statement was. Even the other four warriors laughed, smiled or sniggered at him.

Gakupo brought his palm to his face in embarrassment at his question. He shook his and spoke up: "Okay then, let me rephrase that: We were just looking to see if we could _buy _some weapons, is all."

"Better!" his short friend chirped, "It depends on what type of war craft you'd want."

"Hm?" inquired Len and Rin at the same time, moving close to Piko. They frowned, as did Piko and Gakupo.

"I think Mayu means that if we wanted long-range equipment or hand-to-hand equipment; because I think they're the two types that can be legally sold." interjected Lui, approaching the rest of them.

Mayu widened her eyes at the amber-cloaked boy, "Core, he's smart! And he doesn't even look that old!"

"Believe me, ma'am, I'm not." replied Lui, giving off an arrogant smirk, as he did when he knew he'd impressed someone. Mayu nodded; pleased with the fact she was talking to an intelligent person for once, rather than a peasant that hadn't a clue about weapons. Well, they weren't peasants; they were people who were generally stupid, which was why Mayu called them "peasants".

"I'm thinking hand-to-hand, after all, I've no idea how to work long-range stuff and I don't want to accidentally hurt any of you guys because I did something wrong." Len spoke, changing the topic to what they were _meant _to be discussing.

Rin nodded in agreement, "I second that, and it's much more fun wielding a sword than being lazy."

"You agree, Piko and Lui?" Gakupo asked the two boys, turning to see them standing far from each other. The response they gave was confirming agreement with the others, a simple bob of the head, though Piko gave off a smile, as he did whenever he nodded.

Gakupo returned his body to the same position beforehand, his back facing away from the weapons-girl. He was glad his comrades had chosen traditional hand-to-hand fighting. He was a fighter himself, a fighter with a katana. However, he knew it needed replacing so he knew he could take up this opportunity to replace it.

"So, hand-to-hand it is."

Mayu grinned, winking and giving the group a thumb-up, "Great choice!"

She exited the room, strolling into another room located near her desk. Rummaging could be heard as she went searching for weapons. Gakupo just knew that she was going to hurt herself, given her clumsiness. Thus, he wasn't surprised when she yelped out in pain.

"Agh!" the girl cried, her outcry loud enough for all to hear, "Damn all! Why did Miriam have to point the blades upwards!?"

_Danger!_, Len thought, the word coming to his mind at once. He sped into the room the uniquely-haired girl was in, to see if she was alright. Fortunately, she was only clutching her hand, squinting at the pain.

Len crouched down so they were at the same height, "Are you alright, ma'am? You seem hurt."

"No, no, I'm fine, my dear. I just managed to slice my hand against one of those damned blades, that's all." Mayu replied, waving it off. She released her grip on my hand, to show the blond boy, but hissed in pain.

"That doesn't look good! You need a plaster!" shouted Len, who looked at her injury with sadness. He was the caring type, where even if anyone had a tiny cut, he'd overreact about it.

"Don't worry, child, I'll have you know, I've had far worse injuries." Mayu sighed, picking up a box with various items in it, "This seems like a decent box."

The two began to make their way back into the room, where the others were, but Mayu stopped the boy.

"Actually, could you get me a plaster?"

Len weakly smiled at her, before eying up a box of band aids. He took a step and grabbed the box, before taking one out and applying it to the injury.

"Much obliged, child."

Len continued to give her the weak-smile look, which made the woman frown.

"Why do you look at me like that, child? It's as if you want to do something."

Len simply took the box out of her hands, and gave her his symbolic smirk. The honey-eyed woman raised an eyebrow, but was grateful inside that the boy had taken that weight out of her arms.

Mayu and Len ambled back in the room, with Len still carrying the box. It was a wonder to the woman how a skinny boy like him could carry a heavy box like that. The others, who had been confused by the commotion, asked out of concern if Mayu was alright. Mayu had simply said she was okay, before snatching the box out of Len's hands and plonking it down on the table.

"Righty-o, then! These are just some weapons I found, they still brand-spanking-new!" chortled Mayu, opening up the box.

Rin, being the curious girl she was, decided to go and check out the box. Peering inside, she delved into the box, fingering around until her hands rested on something that felt rather odd. She drew it out: A fan.

"A fan? How's this going to help me?" she asked Mayu, bluntly.

"Ah! That isn't a fan, dear, it's a tessen! It's basically a fan with blades; it's quite the deadly weapon." Mayu answered, "Not to mention, it'll certainly bring out your feminine side."

Rin rolled her eyes, "So what if I'm a girl who acts like a guy?"

Mayu widened her eyes in response, only now realising her error.

"My apologies, I thought you were all male!" she gasped, "I'll make a mental note not to be so prejudice next time!"

_And I bet you that there won't be a next time_, Rin thought to herself, as she gave Mayu a plain "Hmph." in response.

"Still, I'm sure you'd bring the same reaction to your enemies, if they dare question your gender." Mayu stated, trying not to offend the girl more than she'd already done, "Anyway, Gakupo, take a weapon!"

Gakupo came closer to the box, hoping that he'd get the katana he badly wanted. He thought of the katana like a prince, and would treat it like one. If he couldn't be with Luka now, he'd use the katana to make up for it.

He felt around the box, feeling cold iron and frozen metal. The familiar wooden feeling- he was looking for it. It was a feeling he was fond of, it was like a heaven to him. He'd only be content when he knew he had grasped the weird feeling of the wood.

Oof! The man had yanked something out of the box, causing him to stumble backwards. He had enough balance to not fall onto his backside, but the force was quite large, to the point where he thought he would topple over. After composing himself (and having the others ask him if he was alright, to which he replied with that he was), he turned to check if what he had pulled out really was his beloved katana.

"Yes!" he yelled in delight, as if he'd achieved something fantastic. Well, getting a new katana classed as achieving something fantastic _to him_.

Lui rolled his eyes, sarcastically, "Even before pulling it out, I knew you'd have that reaction."

"Well, it certainly doesn't take a brain to figure that one out!" cheekily commented Gakupo, who made Lui roll his eyes yet again, as well as fold his arms. One could say that Gakupo was over the moon about receiving his gift, and the purple-haired man himself would agree. He didn't care if it seemed weird to be over-obsessive about a wooden stick, he was in his element, since he'd received the one thing he wanted.

The process of picking weapons continued with Lui receiving a pair of razor claws, to which he was surprised yet humoured by them. He had tried them on and felt his hand nearly come off, due to the claws being so heavy. Well, that's what it felt like, to him.

Piko had picked out a mace, in which he was completely thrown, yet somewhat startled by. He'd also freaked everyone else out by pointing the spikes in their direction. He had made a mental note to himself to try and be more careful, in the future.

Finally, Len picked up the final weapon. He'd felt something cold and sharp, which he figured must've been some sort of blade. A long blade, at that.

He'd picked up what he hoped was the handle to this strange object, and was surprised. Everyone else had got some pretty random weapons (Bar Gakupo, since _everyone _had somehow predicted he'd get a katana), but he hadn't.

"A dual-wielded sword, hey?" was his first response at the weapon. Though it was fairly plain, like the others', it somehow had a look of it being quite lethal. Len swung the sword around artistically, before placing it into a pocket on his belt, which was tied up on top of his robe.

"So, how much do we have to pay?" Gakupo inquired, after putting his katana away.

"Wait; let me ask a question first." Mayu spoke, her tone getting sterner with each word, "Why do you need weapons? What's the purpose?"

"The princess was kidnapped, you see." Lui began, much to everyone's relief that they didn't have to explain, "And Len here, as her fiancée, and because of Kaito's orders, meant that we have to go and rescue here. Regarding weapons, we need them because it could get a little violent on the way."

Everyone in the room agreed that Lui was the best at explaining. After all, why wouldn't he be if he was so intellectual?

"So you're doing it in honour of the princess? Heck, I should be giving these away like candies!" Mayu exclaimed, "I guess I can tell a lie to Miriam and say we got robbed…"

Piko shook his head, "No, no, you really don't have to."

"I do, dear; it's a way of showing my respect." The woman argued, going into the room where she had once been before. Once again, she rummaged around; though this time she wasn't spending as much time in finding weapons.

She came out with 6 swords, 3 in each hand. They were all the same; the same metal, the same colour and the same height and width. Mayu handed one to each of the fighters, receiving thanks in return.

"Just so Miriam believes me, I could say that only one person came in so they couldn't take much." The honey-eyed woman explained, "Do stay safe, and remember not to hurt yourselves with them."

Gakupo, however, wouldn't stop there. He still wanted to give her the money she deserved, because he thought it was wrong that she was giving them away for free.

"Mayu, can't you just accept some form of money?" the tall male questioned.

Mayu wagged her finger, "Nope, I won't take any amount of cash from you lot."

"Seriously?"

"No, after all, wouldn't it be disrespectful? You're doing it for a good cause." Mayu debated, seeming to not want to give in.

"What about a tip, ma'am? You have to let us give you something." Rin interrupted, edging closer to the woman.

Sighing, Mayu gave up, "Fine, a tip will do. I won't accept anything more than £30."

* * *

After giving her a tip (Gakupo had given her £35, which annoyed Mayu to no end, though she kept the extra £5 anyway), the group said their farewells and departed from the shop.

"And remember guys, if you see her, don't tell her that I gave those things to you!" reminded Mayu, before closing the shop's door. Upon her doing that, Rin was the first to speak.

She nudged him in the upper arm, "So Gakupo, it looks like we got more than we bargained for!"

"Yeah, but now I don't know what to do with all this money. It's kind of getting on my nerves." The male huffed in response.

"We might need it later, you never know." Lui remarked, earning a nod in agreement from the others.

"Well, I just hope we can do this quickly. I want to get home and just chill out." Piko complained.

Len rolled his eyes, "Well, at least you don't have a kidnapped fiancée currently being held hostage."

"Touché." the white-haired boy muttered under his breath.

Len held his hand out, with his palm facing downwards. Rin, who was the first to get the idea, put her hand on top a few seconds after Len had done so. She was followed by Lui, then Piko, and then Gakupo.

"Let's do this then, guys!" shouted Len enthusiastically, followed by cheers from the others as they threw their hands in the air. Their adventure was starting, journeying so they could find Miku. All of them hoped it would only take a small amount of time, especially Len. He was just worried as to what might happen to Miku. He needed her with him again.

* * *

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Thanks for the review B.A.G-GOMEZ! Much obliged!

B.A.G-GOMEZ: Thanks for that, I feel loved! It's my first try at a fanfiction writing, so the reviews motivate me to write more :3  
Yeah, I did contemplate about the idea of an anime, but then I figured it could never happen since there'd just be a fixed personality on the characters… And then, there wouldn't such a wide range of fanfictions with every character having a different personality in each one.

And sorry for the late update, been dealing with Christmas stuff! It's hard trying to write a chapter and plan what presents you intend on buying, so forgive my tardiness! Just started my school holidays, so I'll have a few more chapters up soon (HOPEFULLY).

The idea for picking weapons out of a box came from **_Lui's Journal _****by ****_Nekomimi Girl_****. It's a great story, and I think that the idea was pretty neat in her story. Hope she doesn't mind me using it in my story… 0.0**

Ugh, I'm also pretty annoyed because I was looking on some archives, since I was bored (and ill, I can't write very well when I'm ill), and there were some persistent flamers! Now, some authors aren't the best at writing, especially when they first start out, but I think flaming's a little too far. Just some kind advice could do… :/ 


	5. Chapter 5: Urgency

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, songs, or anything mentioned in any of the games/songs/animes etc (...yet). All of my own characters belong to myself, and if you use them without my permission, I might get a little angry (though I doubt you will).**

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"So, you'll answer all of my questions, and if you don't, it'll only get worse. Got it?"

Miku sunk further into her chair, averting her gaze. Her wrists were bound tightly together behind the chair, to prevent her from getting away. Even though she wasn't crying, she felt sad enough that her heart could've just smashed then.

Where was Len?

Why wasn't he there, to save her?

What could he be doing, to not come and put her out of her misery?

She wasn't exactly _annoyed_, she was more… _distressed_. Distressed because she hated how she was being treated (and generally being kidnapped), and distressed because Len wasn't coming. She needed to be out of there, at that moment. Not when it was going to get worse.

"I said: Got it?" the voice repeated, this time a little more impatiently. The voice belonged to a male, an elder gentleman, at that. He wore a plain black suit, with a white blouse and black bowtie. He looked quite creepy to Miku, given that he was eerily smiling at her and chuckling darkly to himself. He sat in a chair opposite Miku, watching her every move. He wasn't very patient; he was tapping his foot and muttering things under his breath. Miku was only wondering what he'd do.

Miku gulped. She was worried partly worried about what he would do to her, and partly worried that this man would get rid of Len to prevent him from saving her. Oh, how she worried for his safety! She worried about his more than her own!

"Yes." the turquoise-haired girl sighed in response. She really wasn't in the mood for answering questions, and she wasn't in the mood for dealing with some creepy man that had decided to hold her hostage. She was in the mood for wishing Len would come, though even that was a luxury to her now. To get out of there would be a paradise to her. That was how much she hated it.

"Good. Let's get started then, Miku." spoke the man, his voice monotone, yet sinister and suspicious, "I'll try not to hurt you, but I might have to if you don't play along!"

The princess hoped that he wouldn't ask anything too personal, or anything that they'd be able to use against her. She couldn't put Len through that, if he was saving her. That'd just be wrong of her. Completely wrong.

* * *

Meanwhile, a few miles off the castle, the five fighters were in a bit of a calamity. Well, who wouldn't be if they hadn't a clue in the slightest of where to go?

"We can't just wander around looking like wankers!" Rin complained, moving her hands to empathise her point, "It's stupid!"

"Is not! It's the best we can do!" Piko countered.

Rin shook her head angrily, whilst Lui muttered: "Well, I'd hate to see what the worst was…"

"I heard that, you arrogant smartass!" shouted Piko, offended by Lui's comment. Lui chuckled in response, feeling a bit cheeky for his remark.

"Can't we just stop arguing? You can fight amongst yourselves when we finish this." Len sighed, shaking his head.

"Yeah, because I don't know about you guys, but I don't want to be out long. No longer than a few days." added Gakupo, who was standing by Len, as he had been when he was watching the drama fold out between the others.

Rin gave a look of disgust, "What? I thought this was only going to take a few hours"

All of the guys rolled their eyes in synch, "Get real, Rin."

"So this is gonna take a few days?" Rin started, as she would do when she was about to ramble on, "So Miku could be anywhere and we wouldn't know? And where will we sleep? I don't wanna sleep if we're gonna sleep on the floor! Bugs, ew! And food! We're gonna have to eat maggots and that is so dis-"

"Shut up!" Len shouted, annoyed as he threw his arms onto her shoulders, shaking her so she'd snap out of her rambling, "We're going to be fine!"

"Hey, and Rin, since when did you get so afraid of bugs?" Piko questioned, trying to hide a smirk.

Rin growled, and gave him a look that could kill, "Since the time when _someone _thought it'd be funny to release a load of cockroaches into my room!"

Lui widened his eyes and bit his lip at Rin's outburst, "So you're still angry about that? I did say I was sorry…"

"You gave me a phobia of bugs, that's for sure!" Rin spat, angry at the young male. She looked like she had fire burning in her eyes, due to her angriness.

Lui made the wise decision to refrain from speaking from this point. Though he could make smart comebacks, he was wise enough to know when to stop. He stood next to Piko, who was near Len.

Piko murmured words to Len, "Isn't she supposed to be older than you?"

"She's only 8 minutes older, and besides, according to her 'She's a girl, so it doesn't count'." Len muttered back, cautiously watching his sister as she continued to endlessly rant about her phobia of bugs.

"And if I have to sleep on the ground, I can promise all of you that whoever kidnapped Miku will pay to clean my clothes!" the girl snapped, "And I jolly well mean it!"

"We get the point, Rin, now can you just shut up for 5 minutes? I have a headache, I'll have you know." Len sighed, folding his arms in annoyance, "Besides, we're supposed to be discussing how we're going to find Miku, not how we're going to encounter bugs."

Before Rin could counter a point, a sound of panting could be heard. It was coming from the direction in which the fighters were travelling in. A figure, no taller than Lui came running towards the group, looking rather exhausted.

The figure instantly rested her hands on her knees as she panted, taking in as much air as she could. The figure was a girl, who looked no older than 17. Her hair was a lavender shade, lighter than Gakupo's cloak, and it was tied into two loose ponytails. She wore a purple top, a black skirt, black and purple shoes, along with some silver body armour. Her eyes were a dark purple colour, and her skin was red from running. She had a sword in her belt which she was wearing, along with some other fighting equipment.

Piko instantly recognised the girl, "Fighter Yukari!"

The girl turned to face him, still catching her breath, "D-Duke Piko…"

"What happened? Are you alright, ma'am?" Lui questioned, though he didn't know her. The girl shook her head, and started to take normal breaths.

"N-no… I came to tell you something, it's important." Yukari stated, "I saw Miku! Or at least, I thought it was h-her…"

Len's face instantly lit up. There was a chance he could find out where she was! Everybody else gasped, mostly due to the shock.

"Really? Tell us all you know!" Len cried, almost begging for her to tell him.

Yukari came closer to the group, "I was coming home from visiting a relative, when I heard an outburst of cries. I decided to observe the sound, and there I saw, Princess Miku struggling to get away! About 4 people were dragging her along… Well, it might've not been Miku but it looked exactly like her. She was even wearing that yellow dress she wore to Len's party!"

"Then it has to be her!" the yellow-cloaked man spoke, "Where did you see her!?"

"I saw her near where Avanna lives, I don't know if you guys have ever been to Zero-Gia, but it was around there… Though she might not even be there anymore…" the purple-haired female answered, "Besides, I shouldn't even be telling you this."

Rin narrowed her eyes, "And why shouldn't you, huh?"

"I overheard one of them; they said if anyone would dare give information to the Royal Council they'd punish them! They even talked about death penalties!" Yukari responded, sounding frightened, "And they sure sounded serious!"

Lui let out a sigh as he was beginning to think. He frowned, and began to twiddle his thumbs, deep in thought. His mind was whirring with ideas and possibilities. He had soon come to a conclusion, moments after, as he unintentionally let out a cough, which seemed to grab everyone's attention.

"Death penalties, you say? Then they must be high up, perhaps they're as high up as us. It rules out anyone below, because they can't just give out death penalties like that." Lui explained, still thinking as he began to fiddle with the left arm socket of his cloak. His look was inquisitive, as if he was going to ask Yukari another question. Though, he didn't, as it was Gakupo who asked a different question.

"Yukari, what did they look like?" he inquired, in a somewhat disbelieved tone. It seemed to catch the purple-haired girl off-guard, as she widened her eyes and began to think. Loudly, at that.

"Er… Now that you ask…" she trailed off, thinking long and hard, "I remember seeing a green-haired woman, and a middle-aged man with her. There were others, but I couldn't see them. I hadn't seen these guys before, but two of them sounded awfully familiar. It was like I knew them from somewhere"

"I think the chances of you actually knowing them are pretty low." Lui stated, immediately after, "It seems more likely that it's a person who we don't know. Perhaps they come from another country altogether. But there's something else…"

Len shot him a frown, "Something else? Like what?"

"Yeah. I'm just thinking back to the meeting. Why did Leon storm out like that? He wouldn't usually, me and him would argue for much, much longer than that." Lui pondered, contemplating about the events that had happened earlier. Rin appeared to disagree with him about Leon.

"Leon's just like that, Lui, I'm sure it hasn't got anything to do with Miku." Rin said to Lui, a lot calmer than she had been. Len agreed with her, nodding his head in response.

"Yeah, I think I remember him saying that he had become quite stressed recently. I'm sure Leon wouldn't do anything like that, Lui."

Lui shook his head, "I'm not blaming Leon for anything, I was just thinking about all of the possibilities. Someone could've been watching us as we had that meeting, you know. Like someone who had kidnapped Miku."

"Well, we can't assume anything yet. I think we should head off to this Zero-Gia place Yukari was on about." Gakupo spoke, everyone including Yukari and Lui agreeing.

"In case you guys wanted to know, Zero-Gia is about 6 miles west from here. You might need to take a break or something later on." Yukari added, the sentence somewhat out of place from what Gakupo had said. The fighters nodded in response, showing they understood.

Yukari changed the topic, "Well I'd best be off, and you guys should be to. I'll tell Kaito and Meiko where you guys are, and I'll tell them what I told you. See you all soon."

The others said their goodbyes and watched the girl run off, as if she hadn't stopped at all. Moments later, she was completely out of sight, so the 5 decided to walk on and get to Zero-Gia.

Lui was still having his doubts. Even if Leon was stressed, he couldn't have just walked out like that. Lui knew he probably wanted to go and save Miku.

_Yeah, why hadn't Leon signed himself up to go and save Miku?_

It seemed odd to Lui. Leon was out of character, to him anyway. It wasn't right, there was something… Wrong. Maybe Lola was giving him a hard time? Maybe something had happened to a family member? Lui wasn't even sure anymore, but he was certain he wasn't going to drop the idea. Perhaps he could save it for whatever they could find in Zero-Gia.

* * *

Meiko sighed, the tears long gone by now. She was worried, as was Kaito, who was close to her. It was later in the day; everyone in the castle had been told to continue on as normal until the search parties returned.

"I hope they're alright, Kaito, I don't want Len to get hurt as well." Meiko said, worried about the consequences of the whole thing. Kaito brought her into a hug, exhaling as he comforted her.

"Len won't get hurt. He has Gakupo and Piko with him, so he's going to be fine, Meiko." Kaito said reassuringly, "And I know Len wouldn't get into some stupid danger, he's been taught well-enough to not do stupid things. So don't worry, Meiko."

Meiko smiled and rested her head by his chest. She closed her eyes and started to drift off. She could trust Kaito, so she felt safe in his company. All was peaceful, until the door had flung open, revealing the same purple-haired girl the others had met earlier.

"Kaito, we need an urgent meeting!"

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**LOL, Zero-Gia! I didn't want to make up a place so I used the company she comes from and added an –ia onto the end!**

Looks like Rin's having really weird mood swings! One minute she's all quiet and angry and the next minute she's all diva-y! She reminds me of my older sister, she has weird mood swings, too!  
And she has a phobia of bugs… And she gets scared of everything and I just sit there sighing at how much of a wimp she is /_/

Yes, so I am writing this in addition to the new story I mentioned in that one-shot I wrote. It doesn't mean I'll be abandoning this, it just means that both stories will get updated at the same time. Why at the same time? I just don't wanna grow too fond of one over the other. (Though I'm actually posting the new story in the new year, I should add)  
  
**Thanks for the reviews, NekomimiGirl and B.A.G-GOMEZ! Once again, much obliged!**

NekomimiGirl: It's fine! Christmas can be pretty hectic, with trying to sort everything out. I know you like LenxLui, and I do, too! I like the two pairings as much as each other :D (I think it was you that got me into LenxLui from **_Lui's Journal_****…). And thanks for letting me use the idea!**

B.A.G-GOMEZ: Nah, I don't intend to! I'm not exactly one for drama so hopefully I won't go OTT. Cheers! I think Rin should've been more argumentative, but oh well xD  
And I added you to my favourites, because I'm a nice person like that J


	6. Chapter 6: Oh, I'm The Fool

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, songs, or anything mentioned in any of the games/songs/animes etc (...yet). All of my own characters belong to myself, and if you use them without my permission, I might get a little angry (though I doubt you will).**

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"What!? That can't be right!" Kaito cried, getting up with Meiko still by his side.

Yukari shook her head in deep sorrow, "It is, I'm so sorry to break the bad news. I was walking home, and I saw it. It was an awful sight."

Kaito shook his head, "Then we must organise a meeting at once! Len and his group are in great danger! As are the other search parties!"

"I also spoke to them before I got here, but this was before I saw the crime. But they have weapons, so I'm sure they're alright." Yukari said, somewhat calmly as Kaito was panicking. Meiko clutched on to the blue-haired man's arm, as if she let go, he'd go forever.

"But they could still get targeted. All of them are vulnerable, even if they have weapons!" the elder man argued. He was only concerned for their safety.

"Remind me, who was the one who sent them off as a team in the first place?" the purple-haired girl questioned, sarcastically. Kaito shook his head, frustrated.

"That's not the point, Yukari! Assemble the Royal Council to the common room at once!" Kaito cried, in a defeated tone, sounding more and more annoyed by each passing minute. He used the arm that Meiko wasn't clinging onto to make hand gestures, to emphasize his point. Those gestures weren't intentional; he usually made the signs whenever he was frustrated or annoyed. Yukari sighed, before walking out of the room, presumably to gather the members of the Royal Council.

Kaito nudged Meiko, as a way to say: _I need to go; I'll talk to you later_. He sighed as he did this, and let his frustration sizzle out naturally. The brunette let loose after a few seconds, and looked at him with wide eyes. Pleading eyes, at that. Really, Kaito didn't want to leave her, but he had no choice. He had to go to that meeting.

He had told her that he'd leave her with some of the ladies-in-waiting, so the two exited the room and headed downstairs together, where the Royal Council and the ladies would be. They walked in a fashion where it looked as if Meiko was almost hugging him, and practically cutting off the circulation in his arm. Though it hurt a little, Kaito didn't mind too much about it. However, it was a pain when they ambled down the stairs, since Meiko was always one step behind him, which meant Kaito always had to cut the distance in which he put one leg in front of the other. Again, he didn't mind about it, he knew that she was just worried about him after what they'd discussed with Yukari. Wouldn't anyone be worried about their partner after they had received some distressing news?

After Kaito had left Meiko with Neru and Luka, two of Miku's ladies-in-waiting, he headed towards the Common Room, where the meeting would be held. Even though not everyone would be present, he knew there was still going to be a large number, and he simply couldn't afford to slack. They were discussing an important matter, so the last thing he could do was to slip up and not get anything done.

Pushing open the doors of the Common Room, Kaito stepped in, to find that everyone was silent, like last time. They tended not to talk beforehand about things since they thought it was rude. They'd just wait for Kaito to enter in silence, and then the meeting would start after he opened the doors and took a seat.

"So." he started, making his way to where he normally sat- the front of the table, "Allow us to gather here today to discuss the death of Mayu."

* * *

Lui sighed. He was beginning to get exhausted, unlike the others, as it looked. He didn't normally do this much walking, so he didn't exactly have the energy to go on for much longer. He was trailing behind, along with Rin, whilst Len and Piko were slightly ahead, and Gakupo was leading the group. He noticed that Piko seemed to be close to Len… Perhaps a little too close. His eyes narrowed on the white-haired male.

_He disgusts me! He's way too close to Len! He knows fully well that that should be M-_

His thought was soon cut off by Rin, who had poked him to get his attention. He turned to her, in the direction of where she had poked him. She appeared to be frowning, and folding her arms as they continued to walk. He let out a sigh, wondering what the girl would want.

"You're really red, you know. Plus, you're glaring, which means whatever's going on in your head can't be good." Rin observed, "What's the matter, anyway? Usually you're really cocky and upbeat."

Lui rubbed his head, trying to think of a response. He had to be quick, or else Rin would think something was up! If only she could see what he was seeing…

"I-I uh… I-I'm exhausted! Y-you know, _all _of that w-walking really puts you out of b-breath!" Lui quickly replied, hoping that his answer was enough to convince Rin that there really wasn't very much wrong with him. His answer was half-true, he _was _exhausted after all. He was fairly sure Rin would believe him; after all, he didn't lie _that _often. Well, he hoped that Rin would, anyway.

"I know it's pretty exhausting, but I'm sure you'll be able to cope a little longer. I know you're weak, but I'm sure you aren't _that _weak." Rin smirked, rolling her eyes at him. It was almost like she waiting for an arrogant reply from him, judging by her tone and the way she was staring at him. Relief! She didn't think he was fuming over Piko! He let out a smile of relief, before weakly smirking at her.

"Says the one who's a girl." he bitterly commented, winking to show that he was only playing with her, and that he didn't actually mean it. Well, maybe he did mean it… A little.

She raised her eyebrows at him, daring him to try and take her on. He chuckled, before rolling up the sleeves of his cloak and taking off his hood. He gave her a similar look that she'd given him, before stating:

"I bet you wouldn't have the guts to expose yourself around here."

She widened her eyes, in a sort of worry, "Lui! You shouldn't do that!"

He didn't bother sorting out his cloak, and instead he kept the sleeves rolled up and the hood down. He was going _that_ far to prove he wasn't weak, which startled the girl. He seemed fairly confident that nothing was going to happen to him, like no one was going to come out of nowhere and suddenly harm him. He started to laugh at her, looking at her as if she was crazy.

"What, too weak to be able to do what I'm doing?" he asked, in a slightly menacing tone. He folded his arms, seeing that Rin was still worried about him.

She exhaled, not too happy with what he was doing, "These cloaks were made for a reason, you know."

"Fine, fine, I'll put my hood on and roll down my sleeves, no need to start complaining." he said, throwing his hood over his head and pushing his sleeves down.

"That's better. Couldn't afford to lose a member now, could we?" the blonde said, after he had done that, nudging at him in the arm, "C'mon, let's catch up with the others."

She started walking on ahead, when he realised how far behind they were. They were so far behind that Gakupo was just fading into the distance and Len and Piko were smaller than they should've been. Piko. Ugh, that boy… He was now walking with his arm in Len's arm. Something wasn't right there. At all.

He started to walk faster, so his pace matched Rin's. He didn't care if he was exhausted anymore, since he just wanted to know what was going on between Len and Piko. And he was going to find out, whether it embarrassed them or not.

"Lui, you're all red again!" Rin huffed, "Core, you really are unfit, aren't you?"

Unfit seemed to be too harsh to describe him. Even if he did feel hot and bothered, he wasn't going to let her call him unfit, even if he had never done so much walking as he had been doing now. Sure, he wasn't like Len or Gakupo, but he certainly wasn't one to be called 'unfit'. He wasn't going to sink down _that _far.

"I'm not unfit! It's the sun, I swear!" he protested, earning a light-hearted chuckle from the blue-eyed girl. She clearly wasn't intending on buying his story, it was like she could already see right through him. She cocked her head, and raised an eyebrow as she sarcastically remarked:

"Oh, really? It's a wonder how you're the only one who's red! Everyone else isn't even pink yet!"

"I'm not unfit, I'm serious!" Lui complained, puffing out his cheeks, "Even if I am bright red, I'm in perfect shape!"

Rin shrieked with laughter, almost clutching her sides, "Perfect shape? Excuse me whilst I take the time to laugh!"

"What? Can't admit its true?" he questioned, smirking as his cockiness was present. Rin was about to make a comeback, but Lui and she were cut off by a coughing sound, a little behind them. The two turned their heads, in a synchronised manner, to where the coughing sound came from. They then realised, they'd walked too far and had completely lost track of the others.

Walking back to the group sheepishly, Len was the first to speak:

"So, it seems that the two of you had a bit of fun, huh?"

"We did, actually." Rin cheekily responded, winking at Lui who just shrugged in response. They stopped, directly in front of the group. Lui noticed that Piko wasn't clinging onto Len anymore, which seemed to calm him down. His flushed face started to return to its natural colour, which was a relief for him as nobody could call him 'unfit' anymore. Well, that's what he was hoping.

Changing the topic, Lui decided to probe Piko of what he was doing earlier. After all, he wanted to know the answers and he wasn't going to let the two get away with it so easily.

"So what were you guys doing while Rin and I were distracted amongst ourselves, earlier?" he inquired to the others. He decided to be subtle about it, since being direct about it would make him look pretty weird. And he'd probably anger Piko and Len by being so forward about it. It was one of the many advantages of being smart.

"Well, I was just leading the group, but it seemed like you guys were pretty keen on taking on my role!" Gakupo joked, causing Rin and Lui to smile awkwardly in unison. They hadn't _meant _to, it had just… Happened. Luckily there wasn't anything bad around, or else they could've been in a terrible situation. A pretty terrible one.

"We were just talking about a few things, that's all." Len shrugged, bluntly, gesturing towards Piko. Immediately after, Lui raised his eyebrows as if to say: "You've got to be kidding me…". Piko tilted his head, a little confused by what Lui was getting at.

"We were only talking about Miki and Miku, nothing too special, if that's what you were wondering." the white-haired boy added, in a somewhat panicked tone, though he wasn't worrying about it. It just came out like that. It seemed to be logical enough for Lui, as he simply let out a "hmph", somewhat defeated.

Perhaps Piko was right, and they were generally talking about their lovers. But it seemed odd to him, how Piko was literally clinging onto him. That can't have been normal. Though, he dared not to press it any further. It'd seem weird of him to do that. He decided that he'd talk to Len instead, when they set off again. He wanted to talk to Len about a few things, anyway. It'd be the perfect way to spend time with him. He wanted to make the most out of this as possible.

* * *

Miku was once again in that same horrid room that she'd been in before. Locked away, bored, and looking out for Len. Even though she felt hurt, - after what horrible doings that creepy man had done to her- she still felt… Alright. Because she knew that Len would come. She had had her doubts at first, but she realised that Len would come to her rescue, even if it would take him forever. He was loyal and would never leave her in that sort of trouble for too long. That was just who he was.

She looked out of the window, all around, at all of the scenery, but mainly at the ground. It was too far away, like everything else was. She sighed, before flopping onto her bed motionlessly.

"There are no exits… If only I could escape…" she muttered to herself, "Though I'm sure Len will come soon… But he needs to come now!"

She looked at her arms. There were marks, from where the man had hit her. She'd been brave enough to not cry, and to keep everything to herself. She didn't intend on giving any information to him, and wasn't ever planning on doing so. She despised that man with all of her guts. How could she give in to someone as low as him?

She got herself up, suddenly, and looked out of the window again, briefly. She then turned around, and muttered words that would be inaudible to anyone but herself.

_I'll make sure that he doesn't harm you, Len, even if it hurts to do that. I wish you'd hurry up though, because somehow, time's running out, yet I don't know how…_

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**Sorry for the late update! I got carried away… School can be an absolute pain. This chapter got slightly rushed because of my Word trial running out… Time to download another package! Shame I spent all of my Christmas money on other things so now I have to wait until I can get the 'full' Word thingy, and just get another trial... Damn it. But I can assure you that this story won't be going on hiatus any time soon!**

Was that some b/romance between Rin and Lui going on there? Nope, just implications! I like implying things… :3 I think I turned into a slight feminist when I wrote Miku's part... Ah well, could've been worse.

Thanks for the review, B.A.G-GOMEZ, Nekomimi Girl and hithosihayabusa! Always appreciated!

B.A.G-GOMEZ: The story was good! The ending was pretty unexpected! Can't wait to see more of your works! J

Nekomimi Girl: Yep! I didn't even know Lui existed before then, so Lui's Journal was where I first found out about him! And that's a good idea… Heh heh, well let's hope a certain someone will be able to save him ;)

hithosihayabusa: Cheers! It's nice to know that you like it! J


	7. Chapter 7: Expressin' Yourself

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, songs, or anything mentioned in any of the games/songs/animes etc (...yet). All of my own characters belong to myself, and if you use them without my permission, I might get a little angry (though I doubt you will.)**

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Lui had lost track of the time, not to mention the date, day of the week and the month. Well, he hadn't lost track, he'd simply forgotten it.

_Me, the esteemed and smartest Duke of all Cryptonia, forgetting the date!? How is this possible? _he demanded to himself, mentally. Most people knew he was arrogant- a smarted-mouthed prat to be precise. However, he hadn't always been like this, which could surprise anyone who'd have known him for a while. In fact, he had only obtained such an attitude a little before he had became a royal.

The truth was, nobody knew why, and they daren't ask him, for fear of several reasons: A, because they didn't want a boring lecture from him; B, because they were worried that he'd get extremely offended, or that he'd mock the questioner, and C, because _nobody really cared_. Only he did.

It was her.

It was because of Ring Suzune, he had become a different person. A completely different one, at that. Since they'd parted, he'd changed. In a way, he was grateful for that. He didn't want to be that old character, that one that would constantly remind him of the sibling he'd never see again.

Ring Suzune looked _nothing _like Lui. Her appearance was completely different to him, to the point where one might think they were distant relatives. She was a sky-blue haired girl, with ice-coloured eyes and fair skin, where Lui had light-orange hair, amber eyes, and skin that was a little darker than his sibling's. She was only a year or so older than him, but the two were the greatest friends on all of Earth. They never argued, they joked together, they helped and protected each other, and they always put each other before the other. She was his best friend, his _only friend_.

And then, when they parted, Lui felt empty, a pang of a hurting feeling swallowing up his heart. His childhood friend, his sister, his soulmate vanished, went away right before his eyes. He never shed a tear, however, because he knew it was pointless in crying out to absolutely _no one_. Nobody was going to hear his cries and sorrows, so what was the point in crying?

It had been that way for the six years that they hadn't seen each other, right until this day, the one in which Lui had forgotten. On some days, she never passed his mind, and on others, her image burned into his mind, almost like a candle, with the wax just dripping and creating an even larger hole in his heart. Because of all of this, he was no longer a well-mannered person, who was shy and afraid- he was now a cocky, crude-humoured male who thought he was the greatest of them all. He was bitter. Angry. Hurt.

He was just lonely.

As he thought about his sister, he walked on, somewhat faster than the others. He had taken over Rin, Piko and Len, and was a little behind Gakupo. He didn't need _anyone's _company, he had it all with him. The meeting he had never had with Loneliness was now taking place, with the participants being himself, Loneliness and his sister- Or rather, what he remembered of her.

_Participant Hibiki, she's fading from your mind! I thought she'd still be burning fresh in your mind!_

"But Loneliness, she's created a burden in my heart of where she once was! That surely has to be enough, doesn't it?"

_Hibiki, it's never enough! You know that! I'll be sure that you feel so much pain that it'll be the only emotion you feel!_

"But Loneliness, don't-"

_Enough! This has been discussed! Conversation is over!_

It was only the same, horrible dream he dreamed each night.

As he trudged on, with horrible thoughts of Ring filling up his mind, he was unaware of a certain male trying to get his attention. It had taken him over fifty attempts to get Lui's attention and still, Lui wasn't responding.

"Lui! Wait, we need to talk!" he cried, his footsteps pathetically plodding against the ground with each passing second.

Lui had heard him, and instantly recognised the voice from where this male had said his name. He hoped it wasn't _him, _for he really wasn't in the mood for talks. Especially with _him. _

Turning around, it was him- no one other than Piko. Oh, the one who he had had the conflict with. He wasn't feeling up for discussing the issue, he already had enough problems as it was. He didn't want to add an umpteenth one to the already overflowing bucket of problems he had. He sighed, knowing that he couldn't get out of it, after all, it was Piko. He'd _make _you talk about problems.

"Oh, well if it isn't the _darling_Duke Piko..." Lui started, sarcastically rolling his words. If Piko wanted to talk to him so badly, Lui figured that he could probably have fun with it and probably annoy Piko in the process. Sweet revenge.

The white-haired male raised an eyebrow, "Seriously, Lui? Since when did you address me by my full title?"

"Since now, _Utatane_."

Piko let out a sigh. Lui could often be difficult, and it'd often be very hard to try and get the issue out of him. He knew that Lui wasn't in his usual state of mind, he knew him well enough to know if there was something down about him.

"What are you playing at, Lui? If it's about that conflict then I was actually going to discuss that with you..."

"And that's _exactly _what I didn't want to discuss!" Lui shouted, annoyed. It was one of the few times that he had ever shouted like that. Piko was speechless, he'd never heard Lui shout like that. Now what could he say?

Realising what he'd done, Lui exhaled, "I'm sorry, I've just been caught up with myself recently and I'm really stressed."

"It's fine, if you want to talk about it, I'm all ears, you know." Piko reassured him, supposing that comforting was likely to work. Obviously, he didn't know Lui that well in that sense, since Lui let out a laugh.

"Like anyone would want to talk about such matters with _you_!" he laughed, not caring if he had just offended Piko or not. The other male folded his arms in defence and let out an "Ugh!" sound, showing that he was pretty offended by Lui's remark.

"Hey, that isn't very fair, Lui! I was only trying to be helpful!"

Lui seemed to turn more bitter at this response, "Nobody ever said life was _fair_, you know. I'd know that, and you know what you do?"

"No, what do you do?"

"You take every damn thing that's unfair and use it to your advantage."

Not grasping the point of Lui's quotation, Piko tried to think of an example, "What, like that one where if you're given lemons, you make lemonade?"

"No, when you're given lemons, you chuck 'em at a smashed asshole and steal their wallet and their phone. It's a commoner's logic, I'll have you know."

"But you aren't a commoner."

Lui clapped his hands, dryly proving that Piko had said the _wrong thing_, "Oh, have a million pounds, Piko! _Ten out of ten _for the observation, and _eleven out of ten _for stating the damned obvious!"

"You know, you can be really difficult at times, Lui. All I wanted to do was help you and you just pushed me away..." Piko whined, still offended by the amber-eyed male's attitude.

"I'm not being difficult, Piko, it's just my way of having fun." Lui commented, shrugging his shoulders.

Piko tilted his head to the side, "Well your idea of 'fun' is certainly not that nice."

"_Please_. If I had it my way, I'm sure you'd be having the _greatest _time of your life," chuckled Lui, "And hey, who wouldn't be if I enforced laws that just let you get as smashed as you freaking wanted to?"

"That's not a nice thing to say about Miku's monarchy."

Lui shrugged his shoulders, "Nah, you're right. She'd make a better ruler than me, any day."

"Can't you just tell me why you're so bitter, already?" Piko fired, changing the topic, "Because you're acting so odd, it's unreal."

So he couldn't get out of it... That was a shame for Lui. He'd have hoped by talking Piko out of it, he wouldn't have to deal with Piko's questions, but that looked as if it wasn't going to be the case. Sighing, Lui knew that he'd have to admit defeat.

"Hmph... It looks as if you aren't going to give up. Funny, because I'm the one who usually rests the case," Lui lightly lamented, "Though I should warn you, it isn't all that nice."

"Whatever, it's not like I'm going to hold it against you or anything. I won't tell anyone anyway, because it's not like I exactly _want _to."

"You'll be saying that again," Lui rolled his eyes, "Well, I guess here goes nothing..."

He explained to Piko about the issues he was having. About how he really missed Ring, and how he didn't want to be the old, loving person. About Loneliness, the horrible, mental person who hated Lui for allsorts of reasons, though Piko didn't understand who Loneliness was (Or rather, he didn't get that Loneliness was Lui's personification of the actual noun). And there was one reason, one reason that really caught Piko's attention, one that he really, really didn't expect. Well, he hadn't expected any of this.

"See, and because of this, when you said you were missing Miki and talking about it with Len, I got angry, because you hadn't been away from her as long as I'd been away from Ring. See, I'd rather that be me and Ring, but that would never happen," Lui concluded to his long explanation, "But who am I to kid? That's far too demanding of me for me to see her."

"You shouldn't put yourself down like that, you know. I guess I was pretty selfish without even realising..." Piko said, as kindly as possible. He had just thought that Lui was just an arrogant person in general, he never knew that there was an entire _backstory _to it. However, Lui shook his head.

"No, it's fine. You at least have a _reason _to miss her. Mine came by fate and general bad luck, it couldn't be helped." Lui shrugged, bluntly. Piko guessed that that was because Lui was still upset by the whole thing.

Piko frowned a little, sadly, "Hmmm... You want to forget that this conversation happened? Because you seem pretty gloomy now."

Lui turned to him, surprisingly for the first time, where Piko could actually see his face. He hadn't cried or anything, there was just... No emotion in his face anymore, whatsoever, which Piko found rather odd.

"You can think about it if you like, but I'd rather not speak about it anymore, thanks."

Just as Piko was going to thank him for telling him the story, Gakupo suddenly stopped. He turned to the group, removing his hood as he spoke out the words that all of them had wanted to hear:

"We're here. We've arrived at Zero-Gia."

* * *

**OMG... Chapter 7 is finally done! I'm so sorry if it seems awful... My writing's gone pretty downhill, recently. Chapter 8 will be much better, I promise!  
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Thanks for the reviews, B.A.G-GOMEZ, Nekomimi Girl and hithosihayabusa! As always, they are appreciated!**

**B.A.G-GOMEZ: Yep, but at least we know where Piko and Lui stand after the events of this chapter! Well, at the end of the day, it's more about quality than quantity. After all, if you find other methods hard, you could end up with a low quality result if you use them (Hey, I think you'd still be good if you tried other formats, I'd find it hard to believe if you couldn't produce the high-standard work that you already produce~!)**

**hithosihayabusa: Glad you liked it! :)**

**Prideful Nekomimi Girl: I guess you could say that Miku's being pretty selfish, she's kind of like one of those typical damsels in distress. But hey, I may or may not give her a badass moment. And I have a feeling that you may like chapter 8... ;)**


	8. Chapter 8: Fade Away

**Disclaimer: I don't own any characters, songs, or anything mentioned in any of the games/songs/animes etc (...yet). All of my own characters belong to myself, and if you use them without my permission, I might get a little angry (though I doubt you will).**

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When the group had arrived at Zero-Gia, they hadn't realised what time it was. Of course, none of them had clocks or watches with them so it was near-impossible to see what time it was, and they hadn't exactly paid attention to the light that filled and drained the atmosphere around them. But thanks to the townsfolk there, they were able to find out that it was 11PM, and that they should've really got some rest. The funny thing was though, after they'd all woken up the next day, the town was deserted, as if nobody existed in that town anymore.

From sunrise, when the group had woken up, they immediately set off to find Avanna, so that they could reach her as soon as possible. It was better to read her sooner rather than later, in any case. Even if their legs ached from all the walking they had done the previous day, they refused to let that be a major concern in getting to their destination. Rest was simply not affordable at this stage of rescuing Miku. It hadn't ever been.

As the group walked on, Rin was the first to notice the lack of people around, "Man, doesn't it strike you that there are like, _no people around_? Yesterday it was like one huge party and now it's just... Abandoned."

"They could be sleeping." pointed out Piko, to which the others agreed with him. They hadn't seen a single face since they had started walking, which was rather odd, considering that this was a popular town. Well, _supposed _to be. What had happened?

It was a relatively warm day, as the sun shone through the lush green leaves of the tall trees that stood as high as skyscrapers. It was a beautiful day, yet nobody ever appreciated wonderful weather like this. The group walked along the cobbled, yet sandy path ahead of them, in a more huddled group than they had been previously, though it didn't bother them.. Other than the vegetation surrounding them, -which happened to be the trees and the grass- the entire land was barren and bleak, as if nothing was _supposed _to exist there. Just why would anyone stay indoors on a day like this?

"If that's the case, then they're such a lazy lot." said Rin, with a disgusted tone. She was always an early riser, she couldn't stand sleeping for a long time, unlike her twin, who adored sleep. She'd even been an insomniac once, though that had been a few years ago, and was irrelevant as of now. Unsurprisingly, however, she was the first to wake up on that morning, and she was the one that got everyone else up.

"Even if they're all sleeping... Though," Len pondered, pausing before the word 'though' as he was unsure of what he was going to say, which was a surprise towards himself, though he didn't really care for it that much, "Surely the whole town can't be sleeping? Surely there are people who wake up early? Surely they have _jobs _to attend to."

The five of them passed a dried-up river bed- or rather, they _had _been and they had just reached the end of it, which was also rather strange since the river bed never lost all its water, according to Gakupo. Something was off about this town. There was something mysterious lurking about, like there was dark secret lurking beneath all of that lavish plant life, which sounded pretty corny, overused and not filled with very much suspense, but it was true, unfortunately.

At that point, Gakupo stopped. Suddenly. The others were astounded that he'd abruptly paused in his tracks, especially since it was after Len had finished speaking. He cocked his head a little, whether he wanted to get a better view of the town or it was a genuine move, placing one hand near his hip. Gakupo, as the others had figured a while ago, could be very sudden and it was rather difficult to figure out what he was going to say. One would've been lucky enough to even figure the general gist of it before he'd have said it.

"Something bad is going to happen," he stated, sighing as if it was an everyday thing, "Make that relatively soon."

Rin stared at him, looking very displeased, "I seriously hope you aren't good at predicting things, Gakupo."

Lui shot the girl a look of utter sarcasm, though it was filled with curiosity at the same time. How he managed to pull it off was something they didn't know, but shrugged off, "Gakupo is a _fantastic _predictor. And besides, I have that strange feeling as well. Like, someone's gonna _stroll _up to us and wanna pick a fight wit-"

"_Hold your horses_," Len interrupted, frightfully as he was passionately gazing at something in the distance, something that the others couldn't see, "What the heck is _that _in the distance?"

He eagerly stared at the object, though the others couldn't seem to see it. In his eyes, of what _he _could see, there was a small black dot, though it seemed to be getting increasingly bigger with each moment. The others had told him that they couldn't see what he was seeing a little after, which was frustrating for him as he even had to start pointing towards the general direction of the dot, and make himself look silly.

...And much of an idiot, as they still weren't seeing what he was seeing.

"Seriously! Are you guys blind or something?" whined the blonde male, getting more and more annoyed with each passing moment. Maybe, just maybe he was seeing things that he wasn't supposed to be seeing, like hallucinations.

Lui rolled his eyes, "Apparently, yes."

"You be quiet, smartass." snapped Len, glaring at his fellow companion. The said companion simply rolled his eyes, muttering something that was inaudible to Len, under his breath, to say the least. As Len continued to stare much like an eagle at the abstract object, Rin had picked up on what her twin was seeing.

"A black dot! Core, it goes fast, doesn't it?"

By now, the dot was much larger than it had been when Len had seen it, and it was approaching the group at a rapid pace. One would have surely been blind to not have seen it, since it wasn't hard to miss. The other three, -Piko, Lui and Gakupo- had also caught sight of it, and unsurprisingly, they were also fascinated by whatever it was. After all, they'd thought they were the only ones in the town.

However, whatever they had initially thought it was proved to not be that. For the least, it wasn't just black.

.**  
**  
Five pairs of eyes met with another pair. Well, for the least, they weren't exactly a pair- Just what was that blue thing coming out of one of her eyes, anyway?

All they'd simply done was just speculate the strange black dot, as it came faster towards them, becoming bigger and causing features to be seen more clearly. They were minding their own business- they didn't want to be in her way or bother her, but apparently, they were her target.

"My master sent me out to look for you _pathetic _lot," this strange person, thing sneered. Whatever she was, she continued on, "And I managed to find you within twelve hours! What's that all about, huh?"

To put it bluntly, the person was a female, due to two black pigtails growing from either side of her head indicating so. She also wore rather feminine clothes, if not, a little revealing. She also spoke with harshness and sadism dripping from her words, though it didn't suit her very well. But referring to her speech, who _was _this 'master' person, anyway?

Lui, who seemed to be willing to pick a fight, walked up to the girl, more casual than he'd been around his comrades, "I don't know, and don't _care _who your 'master' is, but if you wouldn't mind, we have things to do."

"Oh, so do I. It's called _wiping out you peasants_." she retorted, surprisingly causing the amber-eyed boy to snicker.

"That comeback gets really old after a while, you know. So does insulting us at every given opportunity. Two out of ten for trying, though." the male chuckled, almost _daring _her to try to face him off in a showdown. Really, they were already in a showdown, where their mouths were the weapons and the words they spoke were the swings of the blades that uselessly clashed against each other. This girl didn't seem too willing to give in, however.

"Well, if you're gonna be that way, I guess I'll just have to pick on you _first_."

"Oh, and what are you gonna do, insult me some more?" Lui snickered, with a menacing tone, "Because I'd gladly shut that trap of yours with this blade of mine."

Pulling out his silver sword, he didn't hesitate to try and land a slash on her fair, cool skin. There was actually many places he could've chosen to plot his attack, since most of her skin was exposed to the sunlight, but no, he chose her shoulder, as it was nearer, though it was covered by her jacket. He just had to hope that that jacket was thin enough to slash through it. Though, as he brought his sword down on her, he soon learned it was a terrible decision. A very terrible one.

It only took a single uppercut to Lui's jaw (Though, it was far too strong for his fragile body to handle) before he was a heaped, hurting mess on the dusty ground once beneath him. He knew that the others were probably pretty shocked at what she did, but right now he wasn't focusing on the sounds that filled the air around him. He wasn't even _sure _of what he was focusing on.

He heard random shouts and cries every now and again, and he wasn't certain of what they were, but after a few minutes, they cleared, leaving him alone. He was still lying on the ground, his body surprisingly numb from where it had collided with the dried soil. Somewhere on his body -was it his head? He couldn't figure out where it was- felt sticky, some sort of liquid coming out, though he couldn't tell what it was. His vision was blurred, he could see a kaleidoscope of colours wherever he looked, everything he saw was blurry and made his head throb madly. He couldn't even decipher what had actually just happened, ironic given that he was the _totally opposite kind of guy_. Ah, so he was still trying to take in what had just happened.

Suddenly, he could hear a voice. It was clear, which was odd to Lui as he'd heard muffled cries for goodness knows how long _and _he was sure that they were louder than the voice that he'd heard.

"Lui, are you alright?"

He was pretty sure that was Len's voice, but why would _he _out of all the others be the one to help him? He was half-expecting someone like Gakupo (who happened to be trained in first aid) or Piko, or even Rin. Not Len, because Len was the one who liked fighting the villains, even if he didn't always like the praises and rewards afterwards. Again, though, he'd never paid attention to Len's caring side, so all of this was new to him. He would've tried to take advantage of this, but as stated previously, he didn't feel the greatest so he just let it all come to him naturally, something that he actually liked, for a change.

"I think I'm okay."

He heard footsteps, before he saw something. A yellow and peach blob loomed over him, which was probably his face and hair, judging by their placements. He could make out blue dots, orbs, though they weren't very clear, so they had to be eyes. But he couldn't make anything else out, so his observing game was over just as he had begun it.

"Lui, you _aren't_ okay. You have blood seeping out of your head for crying out loud!" Len sighed, annoyed at the younger male's reaction to his question. He also sounded a little... Hurt? Upset? Lui didn't have the time to think (and it hurt, anyway) of what it might've been because the next thing he knew was that where once the blood had been coming out was now something cold. And of course, it stung. Horribly.

"A-a-ah! N-nii-s-san, it h-hurts!" Lui complained, startling Len.

"Seriously? Nii-san? You're more child-like than I thought you were..." Len asked, quietly working away at making Lui's injury better, "Besides, it's all done now, but I'm sure Gakupo can sort it if I'm really _that _bad at first-aid."

The blond stood up, before kneeling down to help the other boy up, who for some reason, felt little more empty than he had been previously. Pulling him up by the wrist, he stepped a little away from Lui so Lui had space to actually walk and so he wasn't getting in the way. However, the move proved to not be very good as almost immediately after he'd done that, Lui began to lose his balance, and eventually fall. Luckily, Len's reaction time was good enough as he swiftly moved towards Lui and caught him just before he was going to hit the ground once again and send blood splattering onto the ground.

He felt cold now, almost _lifeless_ as his dull, amber eyes flickered between being closed and half-open. There was definitely something up about all of this, or else Lui would be fine. A quiet sound escaped from Lui's lips, though Len couldn't tell whether it was a groan of pain or words that he couldn't make out. As he asked Lui to repeat it, he heard what it was:

"Tired..."

Suddenly, he passed out in Len's arms without warning, which caused Len to panic, since he wasn't sure what to do. He'd never dealt with an unconscious person! He couldn't just wait here with Lui, though- what if other enemies came and tried to hurt him and Lui? Then again, how was he going to transport Lui to wherever the others headed off to? That was a point, where _were _the others anyway?

After a few seconds of pondering (and worrying), he decided that he was going to try to find the others, with an unconscious Lui in tow. As he lifted Lui up (who didn't stir, unsurprisingly), he realised that Lui was actually rather light, though it didn't surprise him, given that Lui never even _ate _anyway, or what seemed like it. Len could've easily described him being as weightless as a feather- it was true, it didn't take much strength to carry Lui, much to his immense relief.

As he started to walk with Lui in his arms, he decided to speak with Lui, even though the amber-eyed male wouldn't hear him, given that he was dead to the world. Still, Len never really got to speak to him so even if Lui couldn't hear him, now was always a good time to talk to him, even if people would've rendered him as weird.

...But there weren't any people here, so that didn't matter.

"You know, even if you can't hear me Lui, I always worry about you... You always act so arrogant but you never realise the trouble you get yourself in. And you know, behind that attitude, I guess you really are a softie at heart. I think I actually prefer that attitude," he paused, trying to think of what to say next. After all, he would probably never get the chance again to speak to him privately, "You don't realise how important you are to people. If you didn't have the guts to talk to that girl, who would've known what would've happened? If you were conscious, I'd have loved for you to think about that."

By the time he'd finished his talk with Lui, he had managed to reach where Gakupo, Rin and Piko were relaxing. As he got closer to them, he heard Rin's distant shouting, causing the others to see him and Lui. Rin wasted no time in rushing up to them, running at speeds that Len didn't even think were achievable and hugging Len crazily, though taking care not to hurt Lui even more in the process.

"Aw, I missed you, Len~! Is Lui alright?" she questioned with worry, noticing how the boy looked in Len's arms.

Len shook his head, "No, he ended up passing out, but I caught him in time. Honestly, I swear that the next time I see that girl I'm going to make her pay. She made Lui bleed like crazy and it wasn't a nice sight."

Gakupo and Piko approached them, just as Rin was responding to Len. Gakupo was the first to speak out the two, looking rather concerned for the young male as Piko just stood by him, not knowing what to say. He didn't mean to behave like that, though.

"We managed to track her down and defeat her, and we also managed to get a few answers out of her," he began, in a serious tone, "It turns out she was working for a man named Tonio, who just happens to have Miku captive."

Len almost dropped Lui in shock, "Really? Are you serious!?"

"Yes. He has Miku so he can take over Cryptonia, and he sent her out so he could get rid of us so we don't interfere with his plans. Although, she did say that somebody we know very well could be working for him as well. She wouldn't say anymore after that, so we just let her go. I think we ought to go to Avanna to see if we can put the pieces together."

"Tonio... Was there anything more you could obtain from her?"

"No, but that doesn't matter now. What matters is what state Lui is in." Gakupo replied, still keeping his serious tone.

Len looked down at the helpless male, and again he shook his head, "He passed out, but I caught him in time. I don't think I treated his wound correctly, though."

Gakupo gently took Lui from Len, and observed the bandage Len had placed on Lui's wound. Lui didn't react to any of the touches, which worried Len even more, as he could've been in a far worse state than he initially thought he was in. He just laid in Gakupo's arms like a useless rag doll, which would've looked more creepy if his eyes were open.

Gakupo passed Lui back to Len, nodding affirmatively, "No, no, you did a perfectly good job of treating the wound. He's still alive, so that's a good thing. I imagine him to be regaining consciousness fairly soon."

Len clutched onto the boy tightly, as if he would vanish if Len loosened his grip a little. His protective side never really came out, but after seeing the shocking state that Lui had been left in, he was sure he couldn't act like nothing had happened. It surprised him at his own change of attitude, but nobody else seemed to question him about it, so he guessed he could keep the attitude up until Lui came back into the world again. Well, that was if he _could_.

"Come on, we don't have much time left, we don't know what Tonio could be up to."

.

After another hour or so, the team were finally at their destination: Avanna's house. When they'd knocked, she'd instantly ushered them in, making them sit in the lounge room as she sorted out the room, as it was a little messy. However, when she caught sight of Lui, she immediately took him from Len to find somewhere for him to recover, worrying more than she should've done. Though, she was that sort of person, so it didn't exactly come as a surprise. Setting him down on a couch, she made sure that he was okay before leaving him, sitting opposite the group, eager to know their story when she was done.

Avanna was much like Lui, a knowledgist, though her degree of arrogance was far less severe than Lui's. She had once been a public speaker, mainly focusing on ideology, logic and theories, which was why she was well-known by Len and the others. They didn't speak about her much, since her speaking days were long gone, but they knew her well enough to find her whenever they needed her.

Gakupo and Len did most of the explaining, with Rin and Piko adding something every once in a while. Avanna listened intently, not interrupting a single sentence. Though, when they were done, she didn't hesitate to drop a couple of her own thoughts.

"I just knew it... I always knew that Tonio was planning something and was up to no good. I just knew it would happen..." she trailed off, shaking her head. It was then that Piko chose this moment to ask a question that surprisingly, none of the others would've thought to ask.

"But wait, just who _is _Tonio? And who works for him?"

Avanna turned to him, suddenly looking rather fearful, "Ah, Tonio. He's a man who does no good. Always intent on taking over countries, since he got here he's been intent on creating an empire and stealing all of the world's money! Nobody thinks he can actually do it, because you can imagine it's pretty hard to do something so vast on your own. But obviously, he'd have people working for him..."

"But who are they?" asked Rin.

"Well he has Prima, that's his girlfriend, and she's just as bad as he is, then he has the Black Rock Shooter, the fastest outlaw in the whole of Zero-Gia..."

"Could that be the girl who hurt Lui?" Len muttered to Rin, who looked back at Len with curiosity, agreeing to him in her response. Avanna continued, not noticing the exchange between the twins.

"Ah, and then Miriam works for him, she worked in a weapons shop with a girl called Mayu..."

"Hey, that's the one we went to!" Rin exclaimed, rather shocked.

"Really? But Mayu died, you see. I have a bad feeling that this was somehow apart of Tonio's plan..." Avanna frowned, twiddling her thumbs nervously. However, Gakupo seemed to be more disheartened than the others, though he took it better than expected.

"Mayu... Died? But how? Why?" he queried, a little distressed. He was struggling to comprehend so many things at once, though he didn't cry or go into a rage. He wasn't the sort of person that would do that, thankfully for the others, who would've probably started crying hysterically if they were in Gakupo's position. After all, she had been a close friend of his, so it was understandable that he was a little thrown by all of this information.

"This obviously happened before she died, so..." Avanna paused, pondering over the situation. After a minute or so, she brightened up, surprising the group, "That's it! Tonio obviously told Miriam to kill Mayu because she served you, and she could've gone and told the Royal Council so they could infiltrate his plans!"

"It all makes sense, now..." Piko murmured, shaking his head as everyone either gasped or realised that Avanna's explanation did seem to fit in with everything. However, this was immediately overlooked due to another voice speaking at the same time his lips moved.

"Leon... I-it's Leon t-too..."

Every pair of eyes in the room darted towards the figure which was lying down, the familiar, lifeless amber eyes flickering slowly open. They lacked something... Emotion? His true character? All of the pride he once had?

"Lui! Are you okay?" Avanna questioned, immediately pressing her hand gently against his head to check if he was okay. The skin felt clammy, lifelessly cold, yet somehow Lui seemed to be relatively okay. Or so, he seemed it.

Lui ran his hand towards the back of his head, where his bandage had been placed, "I... I think I'm just about f-fine... My h-head hurts, though."

"It looked pretty painful... You _are _alright now, aren't you?" Len questioned with concern, rushing over as soon as he saw Lui try to get himself up. As he took Lui into his arms, to hoist the male up into a sitting position, he noted that he felt much lighter than he had done before. Could a knock to the head really do that? Had something much more dangerous happened to Lui than he had originally thought? Heck, why was Lui acting so... Different, like before?

"You think? You sure don't look it."

Lui managed to frown, or what seemed like it as he folded his arms, even though he still looked fairly weak, "I-I said I was f-fine, stop trying to make me look p-pathetic."

Surprised by the sudden change of attitude, which had resulted in the amber-eyed boy becoming irritated, Len backed away a little from him, "Sheesh Lui, is it okay to be concerned about you?"

"Does it look like it, Len?"

There. The sudden change of personality again. It wasn't cocky, and it wasn't innocent. It was something completely different. It almost made Len shudder, how someone as young as him could have so many personality swings. Sure, his sister was pretty similar, but she had had them for as long as he'd known, and Lui's were coming along just then, in that relatively short amount of time. Or maybe he was good at keeping it all bottled up. He honestly didn't know anymore.

Even if the others were watching them pointlessly argue, Len didn't care, and he was fairly certain that Lui didn't, either. Maybe it was good to show them this other side, to see if they could decipher these weird personality changes Lui was experiencing. He sighed, speaking out as if he didn't even understand Lui anymore, which was partly true.

"It doesn't, I'm just sorry for caring about you." he averted his gaze, solemnly before sitting down, a little uselessly, next to his twin. He'd given up on Lui, disappointed in himself, rather than being disappointed in the boy himself.

"Don't be like that, Len, I'm pretty sure he hasn't snapped back to his senses yet." Rin whispered to her twin. Instead of earning a response, she just received a look of dissatisfaction from him, with his arms folded, blushing a little from his anger. The other three people occupying the room just looked at their comrades, the awkward silence filling the room was a little too much to bear. It remained for a few minutes until Avanna couldn't bear it any longer.

"That's it! I'm sick and tired of this horrible silence!" she shouted, looking towards Len and Lui afterwards, "We're gonna go out of this room and leave _those _two to kiss and make up, because this is just getting pathetic!"

"You _what_?" Len questioned, shocked, yet reeling in disgust from his last situation with Lui, "You want _me _to apologise to _him_? After _I _was being _nice_ to him?"

"Yes, now go on, do it, no matter how long it takes!" the black-haired woman replied, not willing to give in. She left with the others slowly following behind her, shutting the door as the last one got out. The moment he heard the door shut, Len spoke up, sighing as he tried to search for the words that would be the most fitting for the moment, which took a few minutes, followed by a deep exhale of what seemed like stress.

"Why... Why do you keep on changing? Why are you so hard to understand? All I want to do is help you and you keep pushing me away... Seriously, what did I do?"

Lui's gaze flickered around for a few moments, before settling on Len, adjusting his body so he was facing the older boy, "Sorry..."

_Sorry for what?_

Apparently, Len was transparent enough for Lui to understand, "I don't know, I've been feeling weird... I've been thinking about my sister recently and she just won't go away from my mind, so I guess I was being silly for changing up."

"That still doesn't explain you, though."

"What about me?"

Len huffed out, wishing Lui would get the point, "The way you're... What do you call it? Changing up? Why are you all innocent and childish one moment and the next moment you act as if you're the most self-loathing thing on this planet?"

"Because... Because I..." Lui started, suddenly feeling emotions rush through him like a train in a matter of seconds. Len noticed his sadness and went over to him, even though he was still irritated by how Lui was being rather vague and unclear. He sat by him, telling him to just let it out rather than keep it bottled up.

Looking as if he was about to cry, he just let it out in one go, "...It's because I really miss my sister."

"Really? You never made it prominent..." Len remarked, placing an arm around his shoulder.

"Do you h-have to make it prominent for it to be t-true?" Lui asked, sounding as if his voice was going to be crushed by the wave of tears building up in his eyes. However, he used the back of his sleeve to wipe them away, surprisingly leaving no marks behind.

"You don't, I mean, I miss Miku so badly and I don't think I show it most of the time. I suppose it's just the way of life and we have to play it like that."

"I guess it both sucks for us then, if we both miss someone so badly." Lui weakly smiled, enjoying Len's comforting side once again. Len sighed a little with relief, pleased to know he'd found Lui's sweet personality once again. They stayed like that, enjoying one another's company for a while before Len spoke up again, realising that if they took much longer, they weren't going to get anywhere in finding Miku.

"I think we've made up, right? I think we ought to let them back in or else they'll wonder what the heck we're doing."

Lui nodded, not bothering to use words at that point. He felt a whole lot better now, after confiding in Len. Heck, he found that Len took it better than he expected, after seeing his rage. Even if his head still felt like it had been stabbed over a million times, he felt... Okay. Better than he had been, anyway.

Without hesitation (and not that Lui actually paid attention to what he was doing), Len got the others back in the room by simply ushering them in, saying that he'd simply made up with Lui and nothing more. Naturally, they weren't very surprised because they knew the two would make up, or rather, they'd _have _to, or else the tension that'd build up would be far too awkward to handle. And besides, they hadn't taken that long anyway... Had they? That didn't matter now, all that mattered now was finding Tonio and saving Miku.

And Lui was beginning to think, maybe saving Miku would be fun after all.

* * *

**Woah... I finally finished the chapter. Yay! I know this chapter sucks, I've been so caught up that I just haven't had the time to update! But seriously, I'm gonna try and make my updates more frequent, it's ridiculous how this took over a month to post... My apologies~!  
**

**YAY BROMANCE \(^O^)/ Even if it's badly written, it could've been worse! Hey, but if you didn't like it, it's _not _gonna actually become a proper 'thing' any time soon... I'm sticking with LenxMiku because otherwise the story will just get way too crazy and weird... But hey, can't a fangirl have her fun at times? ;)**

**Thanks for the reviews, B.A.G-GOMEZ and Nekomimi Girl! Always love a good review whenever I post a chapter!**

**B.A.G-GOMEZ: Agreed. It's good to have a mix, too! Just not good to get writer's block...**

**Nekomimi Girl: He nearly cried! This doesn't count because there were no proper tears ;) And I laughed so hard when you said LENXLUI, it won't happen but implications are good every once in a while! Also, did you like the (failed) bromance in this chapter?**

**P.S. Lui's personality change was _meant _to happen. It relates to something that happens a little later in the story. Also, I look forward to writing the next chapter because Kaito's ice cream addition comes into play! Yay! (though it might not come for a while... Sorry!)**


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